Gundam SEED Destiny: Kira
by Tellemicus Sundance
Summary: He had no memory, found drifting amongst the final battlefield. Two years of peace have passed since that day, unrest and distrust are again rising. This is the story on how he recovers what he lost, what he forgot, and what he never knew he had.
1. My Name is

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 1: My Name is…_

Complete, utter, inconceivably dark blackness surrounded him. Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he here? To the darkness, he asked these questions. And from the darkness, he received no answer. Then, slowly, it started as a whisper that gradually grew louder.

"_How do you determine the winners and the losers?_"

A voice? From where and who? It sounded male, and there was a definite note of iron in that tone.

"_If you have the power to make a difference, why not put it to good use?_"

Another voice?

"_Everyone's fighting desperately to protect the things that are so important to us!"_

"_But you're already a traitor to your fellow Coordinators, are you not?"_

"_What gives you the right to sound so __**superior?!**__"_

"_You are the dream of humanity."_

"_There would be no wars in this world if things could be resolved through discussion."_

"_**NICOL!!!**__"_

"_You soldiers wanna be cowards and runaway, do ya?!"_

"_The enemy's beside the bridge! Get back here!"_

"_It really makes you wonder if the only option is for one of us to destroy each other."_

"_We know the reason why you're kind. It's because you are you."_

Emotions he didn't understand the reasons behind were attached to those voices. They flooded through him with all the force and power of a tsunami. Confusion, fear, anger, helplessness, joy, regret, affection, the list was nearly endless. But the voices…so many voices saying so many things all at once! Stop it. It hurt to know what was said, yet completely not understand at all! Stop! Make them stop!!

Eventually, the voices softened to a dull noise. Then, at some point, they stopped altogether, leaving him emotionally numb as he continued to float aimlessly through the blackness. It was a blackness that he happily surrendered himself to.

KIRA - **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**Near Jachin Due, 71 C.E.**

Chaos. That was the word that came to mind for Captain Jonas Brimfield. The debris, shattered and deformed remains of countless mobile suits and mobile armors, was scattered erratically across the enormous the battlefield. Many lives had been lost here only two days ago after the Blue Cosmos-controlled Earth Alliance launched their devastating attack on the PLANTs. In tribute to those lives lost, many among the people would've felt it prudent to treat the debris with respect as it slowly drifted into the Debris Belt.

What Captain Brimfield saw in that debris was money. Though he and his crew of the _Early Harvest_ were pirates by occupation, it was also in their nature to salvage debris. With the war between Earth and the PLANTs, they had been focusing more on their salvage skills since there was a literal gold mine of classified and hard-to-find weaponry and technology out there, drifting in the vacuum of space, just waiting for an entrepreneur to collect and utilize it. Combine those parts with a team of able engineers and an out-of-the-way factory they'd seized control of several years prior, and the pirates of the _Early Harvest_ had developed a rather self-sufficient government of sorts set up.

As he floated near the holographic table in the bridge of his beloved ship, Brimfield silently surveyed the battlefield. Outside he could barely see the weak trails of light that the engines of his various mobile suits and armors as they drifted through the debris. He didn't have to tell them what to look for since they were all veterans of this type of work. If it weren't for the fact that they were unsettlingly close to the PLANTs' and Earth Alliance's space fleets, this would've been a routine operation. Nor did the fact that the _Early Harvest_ and all mobile suits were safely cloaked under their Mirage Colloid systems give Brimfield any sense of security.

It was this uncomfortable feeling of uneasiness that caused Brimfield to glance almost continuously towards radar officer. If either side caught them snooping around this gold mine, they'd have to flee and quickly. Thankfully though the _Early Harvest_, while not overly fast, could maintain a constant velocity for a prolonged period. This little trick had aided in their escape more times than any of the pirates would've liked.

Brimfield would've hated missing this chance though. After all, both sides had brought out the best of their arsenals. Who knew what they could find among all that garbage? In fact, his crew had already recovered enough parts to build a small team of mobile suits, from either side. And there was enough discarded ammunition to give them a huge addition to their already near-limitless supply back in their hideaway.

"Captain!" Yachi Lungho, his CIC, called out. "I've got a report from Yul Tui of the Hulda Team. He's found a survivor!"

"What?" Brimfield said, snapping out of his slight trance. "A survivor?!"

"Yes, sir!" Yachi confirmed, not turning from his terminal. "The survivor seems to be unconscious—"

"Order Tui to drop his loot and bring that man aboard _immediately_!" Brimfield barked out. A pirate, smuggler, and tomb raider he may be, but _never_ let it be said that Brimfield and his crew did not help those who were in dire need of it! "Inform Medical of the survivor! Send word to Hulda, Gysdar, and Hymney Teams to double their efforts! That survivor will likely need some precision medical attention. So we're leaving the area in five hours! I'm heading to Medical. Lieutenant Ohajin, you're in charge until I return."

"Yes sir!" chorused various individuals throughout the bridge as their leader launched himself for the exit.

KIRA - **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

After what felt like an eternity to the young man, the total blackness from which he'd been encompassed in for as long as he could remember began to change. A feeling of weariness and complete disorientation washed over him. The world seemed to be spinning at tremendous velocity and his body was sluggishly attempting to follow it.

"He's waking up, Captain," a nearby voice said, seeming to have come from somewhere beyond the darkness.

Oh no, were those voices back?! He didn't want to have to deal them now! He was too tired still, emotionally. However his body disagreed, it was time wake up. They had slept long enough.

Blearily, he became aware of a light. It seemed to be shrouded over by something, dimming it partially. However, the longer he focused on it, the brighter it became. Yet the brighter it became, the more it began to hurt his eyes. Letting out a small grunt, he tried turning his head away from the light. To his immense relief, it did help a bit.

"Welcome back among the living, boy," the voice from earlier spoke up. It was much clearer than before. As it spoke, a hand grabbed his jaw and turned it back straight as another hand gently cracked open the boy's eyes one at a time. "I'm Doctor Rokrona. How are you feeling?"

"I…I…don't feel well," he managed to grate out as the world suddenly started spinning again.

"That doesn't surprise me one bit, boy," Rokrona, a man in the traditional white doctor's jacket, said. He finally released the boy and picked up a clipboard to survey. "Given what your body had gone through before we found you, I'm honestly surprised that you'd even survived for as long as you did out."

"What…are you talking…about?" he asked, glancing around him at his surroundings. He was in some kind of infirmary, an IV stuck into his arm, resting on an uncomfortably stiff bed with a worn-out pillow.

"Presumably your mobile suit had been badly damaged during the battle and you were forced to eject yourself into space to escape the explosion," the doctor said as he stood up and headed over to rummage in a nearby cabinet. "I am not aware of how long you were drifting out there, but I do know you had exhausted your flight suit's air supply. When we found you, you had fallen unconscious from lack of oxygen. It's nothing short of a _miracle_ that you'd survived like that out in space for easily two days alone!"

"Mobile suit?" he asked, trying futilely to understand what the doctor was talking about.

"You don't remember?" Rokrona asked, glancing over at the brown-haired teenager. "We found you drifting amongst the battlefield of Jachin Due. We assumed you were the pilot of an Earth Alliance mobile suit; you were wearing their standard issue pilot suit after all."

"…Sorry," he said quietly as he tried to sit up. "I…don't remember…anything."

A sudden bout of nausea swept through him and forced him to retreat back to the pillow that his head had just vacated. He had only just managed to settle his empty through sheer force of will. So lost in the throes of suppressing his sudden need to vomit, he didn't even notice the doctor walk up to him and inject him with a syringe.

"Try not to move too much just yet," Rokrona said as he gently withdrew the needle. "Your body still needs to readjust and you're still too weak. You need some more rest. Those sedatives I just gave you should help you with that."

"Where am I?" he asked, feeling a bit more balanced and alert now.

"Currently you're onboard a freelance salvage vessel, the _Early Harvest_," Rokrona answered, carefully hiding certain truths with practiced ease. "We're headed for an old colonial outpost to give you some better medical attention. Our arrival time is sometime within the next three hours. You've been unconscious since we found you four days ago."

"Four days?" he repeated, not at all surprised. "I guess that's why…"

"Why what?"

"Nothing, forget about it," he said quietly as he tried to recall why he had such trouble remembering what he'd been dreaming while unconscious.

"By the way, young man," Rokrona said as he turned and headed for a desk on the other side of the room. "what's your name? We couldn't find any identification or nothing on you when we found you, just this ring."

"Ring?" he repeated, utterly confused.

Digging through a drawer, the doctor quickly withdrew something and returned to the boy's side. Hanging limply from his hand on chain necklace was silver ring with a gentle, flowing wave-like pattern that circled its length. The simple design of it seemed to scream out that it had once belonged to a girl. It was both elegant and plain at the same time.

Without realizing his own actions, his uninhibited hand was reaching out to grasp the delicate looking artifact and examine it much closer. In doing so, he noticed a pair of letters scratched into the underside of it. _L.C_. Who was that? Perhaps the girl who'd given it to him? Or had he merely found it on the ground somewhere?

Looking back up at the doctor, he blinked slightly in confusion as he tried to search his memory for the answer of the first question. He knew he should've remembered. He knew he had a name, and that he belonged somewhere with someone. But all he could find in his memory was that all-consuming blank blackness that had been haunting him for the past few days.

"I…don't remember, doctor," he said slowly, as though to confirm it to himself as well as Rokrona. "All I do remember is…nothing, nothing at all of who I am…or was."

"…I see," was all the response he got. Not that he was really paying attention anymore anyway.

KIRA - **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**253 Mathilde Asteroid  
Early (forgotten) colonial mining facility**

Brimfield stood next to the bed of the sleeping teenager. His rugged features were twisted deeply as they accented the frown that was etched into his face. It was sometime after midday, according to the clock they used that was tied in with Earth's rotation. With his sharp brown eyes narrowed, he stared down at the brown-haired boy.

What he was staring at in front of him was a real John Doe. The boy was clearly a mobile suit pilot. After being a captain and piloting numerous suits himself, he'd developed a finely tuned sixth sense when it came to detecting the presences of other pilots near him in a crowd. All pilots, whether they realized it or not, wore a hooded shade in their eyes and expression. It was the weight of all those they'd killed pulling at their soul, regardless of whether it was a green newbie who'd just had his first kill or a grizzled veteran. And this boy had that slight-hooded gaze of a genuinely skilled pilot.

When the _Early Harvest_ had returned to the Mathilde Colony, he had immediately commandeered one of their computers. Rokrona claimed that the boy couldn't remember anything, not even his own name. But even if that were true, there were most likely people out there looking for him; unless he'd already been declared killed-in-action, along with countless others. And since he'd been wearing an Earth Alliance uniform, it was therefore logical to start there.

Brimfield and several of his aides had spent the last few hours scouring the EA's database for the boy's identity. And despite their considerable computer hacking talents (a necessity to anticipate and locate battlefields for salvage), they couldn't find anything. Granted, the EA's personnel roster was extremely large so it wouldn't have been a simple check either. However, when they'd received the results of his blood test, they'd learned that he was actually a Coordinator like them. What was a _Coordinator_ fighting alongside the Alliance for?! Sadly, that question would likely never be answered since not even the boy knew anymore.

After they'd scrubbed searching the Alliance, they had switched to hacking into the ZAFT computer network. This network was predictably much more difficult and only offered limited success. Yet the boy wasn't listed as a ZAFT member or even a citizen of the PLANTs at all. With the choices narrowed considerably on where he was from, Brimfield was forced to come to a conclusion. If he was neither in ZAFT or the Alliance, then the next only logical explanation was that he was a citizen of Orb. But when that search proved fruitless as well, Brimfield changed his opinion yet again. This boy was clearly a survivor of the collapsed Orb satellite Heliopolis. If so, then it was likely that he'd never regain his lost identity unless he found someone who knew him earlier. When Heliopolis collapsed, everything went with it, including the birth records and personnel files on each individual within the colony.

If the boy was indeed a Heliopolis survivor, then that raised a whole new set of questions for how he came to be in the state that he was in when they found him.

"How long are you going to state at me, sir?" the 'sleeping' boy asked suddenly, a small smile pulling at his face.

"So you are awake, eh?" Brimfield stated, not seeming to react to the surprise. "I was just trying to decide what to call you until we found out what your name is."

"Who are you, sir?" the teenager asked, opening his eyes to reveal bright amethyst orbs.

"Jonas Brimfield, captain of the _Early Harvest_ and leader of this colony," Brimfield answered, not taking his gaze off the boy. "I've had my people working on finding your family for the past few hours, but we haven't found anything yet…Though in my opinion, you're likely a survivor of the destruction of Heliopolis. That'd explain why we can't find your data anywhere."

"I see," was all that the boy said as he stared up at the grainy and rough ceiling. "…So I'm a nobody after all."

Seeing the teenager's saddened expression, Brimfield felt a sudden burst of inspiration. Reaching out, he ruffled the boy's hair in an affectionate manner that would've left his crew gawking in surprise. Glancing up and around the man's massively muscular arm, the boy stared at him in curiosity. Dropping his deep frown in favor of a small smile, Brimfield said, "The only person who's a nobody is someone who's completely given up their will to live life to its fullest. Tell me, do you lack the will to survive?"

The curiosity was momentarily overridden by a look of pure steel in those amethyst eyes and that small frown he now wore.

Taking the expression as his answer, Brimfield continued, "As long as you possess that will to live, you will never be anything or anybody but yourself…Akira Iyadomi."

"What?" the teenager asked, his hard gaze softening immediately in his confusion.

"Your name shall be Akira Iyadomi," Brimfield stated, resolutely nodding his head to his own statement. "Until you find your own name, I would be honored if you bore this one in its place…I'm sure my old friend, one of the best mobile suit pilots I'd ever seen, would've been honored as well."

"…Okay," the newly-named teenager said, uncertainty thick in his voice. "My name is…Akira Iyadomi."

**

* * *

(Author's Note) **You know, I think I'm glad I finally posted this idea of mine. Ever since I started getting interested in Gundam SEED about a month ago, this idea (and several others that I'm going to include later on) has not left me alone! It was really starting to get frustrating for me because I _desperately_ wanted to write _Chuuten_, _The Last Mazoku_, or even _Saotome Shinji: Final Duty_. Maybe now that I got this prologue out in the open, I will be able to concentrate more on my other stories. Let's hope so!

Anyways, I'm sorry that this chapter is kinda vague. I had just wanted to establish the story from 'Akira's point of view that he remembers nothing before he was found, save for some strange voices and pieces of conversations that he didn't understand. The next chapter will probably be much more interesting as we're likely to see how Akira spends the next two years in the company of pirates and salvagers. After that brief overview, I think the 'official' start of SEED Destiny will begin.

Whatever the case, I hope those of you who've read this story will have enjoyed it. Should you decide to review, please flame me for all I'm worth. This is my first Gundam SEED story, I'll likely need all the help I can get later on.


	2. Diamonds in the Junk

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 2: Diamonds in the Junk_

**253 Mathilde Asteroid  
Two days later, 7:02am**

Dressed in a simple green jacket and black flight suit pants, Akira silently watched all around him as he slowly walked down the hallway. Even if Captain Brimfield hadn't informed him, Akira could've easily figured out that he was currently walking somewhere within an asteroid. The hallways all had a rather distinctive roughness about them. There were even little plants growing in pots along the sides of the hall. The ceiling lights, some flickering and other completely broken, were roughly spaced out with cables running from one to the next. However, the biggest hint that he was on an asteroid was the noticeable lack of real gravity.

He wasn't sure where he was going. Only that he felt an overpowering need to get away from the infirmary and explore. It was suffocating in a sense to be cooped up in bed all day, especially when he was feeling _much_ better. So, against Rokrona's orders, Akira left the room and promptly got lost in his new surroundings. The colony itself seemed strangely for its size. If Akira's estimate was correct, it should've been able to house easily five thousand people at any given time. And while there were a few women every so often, there seemed to be no real families or children anyway. It wasn't anything to alarm him, but it just seemed strange. He didn't really like the still silence that hung heavily in the hallways.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he found himself floating in front of a sealed door. Through the reinforced window, he could see it was some kind of laboratory or designing room since there were a number of old-fashioned computers with the desks and tables covered in various amounts of papers, files, and folders. Curiously, after fiddling with the locking mechanism on the door, Akira entered the room.

After quickly surveying some of the papers, Akira blinked in surprise. Shuffling through the other papers, he couldn't help but stare. These were some of the original blueprints for the ZGMF-1017 GINN, the first mobile suit ZAFT had ever created! What were these doing here! Wait; was this colony actually an old mobile suit construction and testing facility?!

Hurrying over to the nearest computer, he quickly booted up the old machine. Almost immediately he came across a problem. The main software was a complete mess, programs scattered erratically throughout the entire mainframe that instantly shutdown the entire computer upon attempted access. This was the work of a virus, how he knew this he didn't know. Well, he'd just have to clean this mess up if he wanted any real answers then.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**11:28am**

It was taking all of Captain Brimfield's willpower to prevent himself from gawking and to maintain his patented cool expression. Compared to his colleagues, he was perfectly normal. All the rest of his crew were scrambling around, examining, and excitedly yelling out comments and discoveries among themselves. They had all the enthusiasm and energy of a five-year-old on Christmas day. And why shouldn't they?

They had found the crown jewel of _all_ treasures!

Resting on the bay floor in the midst of thousands of other mobile suit components was what remained of the torso of one of ZAFT's most advanced mobile suits. Even badly charred, powered down, missing its headpiece, the right shoulder, right arm, right shin, its beam rifle, and its signature blue wings, the ZGMF-X10A Freedom was an incredible sight to behold. Coupled with pieces of other mobile suits, including the gun-shield of the Earth Alliance's Calamity, the beam-deflector shields of the Forbidden, and a high-grade beam bazooka, this was the best haul they'd ever made!

"Ohajin," Brimfield said, his voice deceptively plain. "Get Professor K in here. I want the Freedom repaired at all costs."

"Yes sir!" Ohajin said, immediately leaping away to fetch the professor.

As a pirate, Brimfield was always looking for the next great prize to steal. The Freedom definitely ranked up among the highest prizes anywhere, especially if the rumors of it being nuclear-powered were true. However, Brimfield also knew another commonly overlooked fact about the Freedom. He and his own pilots were capable, but nothing overly remarkable. Only the most truly skilled of all pilots could've even considered climbing into its cockpit and be able to use it to its fullest potential. And the Freedom's previous pilot had certainly been such a man.

And as tempting as it was to think about adding this mobile suit his contingent, he also knew that it would ultimately be a foolish idea. The former pilot of the Freedom had rapidly become something akin to a martyr. He and Athrun Zala were being hailed as two of humanity's greatest heroes, more-so by Coordinators than Naturals. To add the Freedom to his collection would be an open invitation to ZAFT, the EA, and even Orb to come pirate-hunting. But that wasn't to say that he couldn't have his men dismantle, examine, and mass produce its technological wonders into their own machines.

"Quite a haul you've brought in this time, Jonas," a feminine voice said from the side. "I hear you've even brought back an amnesic pilot as well."

"Professor K," Brimfield greeted neutrally. "I trust I don't have to tell you what needs to be done here, right?"

"Of course not," K said as she turned her hull-gray eyes upon the wreck before her. "Would you like my preliminary assessment of it?" Not waiting for an answer, K continued, flicking her long red hair back over her shoulder. "The internal propulsion drive is likely fried to a crisp. The ultra-compact fission reactor is ruptured. The emergency shutdown and safety cooling systems are just barely preventing a complete meltdown. Structural damage is clearly immense, suggesting an even greater degree of internal damages as well. And finally, I predict no less than seven of the ion pumps have been destroyed, probably when its idiot of a pilot made his final charge."

Professor K was a real genius at mobile suit design and engineering, obviously. Had she not had some…_troubles_ while attempting to join the ZAFT Experimental Weaponry Research Division, Brimfield had little doubt that she'd have been one of ZAFT's leading personnel in the development of their newest weapons. Yet, by an arguable stroke of bad luck, she'd been forced to flee the PLANTs and took refuge on the Mathilde Colony, using the alias of 'Professor K.'

"Sounds like you're really looking forward to the job," Brimfield commented dryly. "Please be sure to give it your best efforts when you restore it. This mobile suit will fetch an incredible price, even in its current state. The better restored it is, the higher the price will be."

There was a ghost of a smile on the woman's lips as she glanced at her esteemed colleague out of the corner of her eye. Then she looked away and fully entered her 'Madam Genius' state of mind as she lightly jumped up to the wrecked machine and started yelling out orders to the crew.

A beeping sound on his communicator drew his attention away. Grabbing the offending object he switched it on. "Captain!" a voice said, a noticeable note of panic present. "You're not going to believe this!"

"What is it?" he asked, jumping over towards the entry way where it was quieter.

"Our Colony network is detecting activity within the East Wing on Level Two!" the voice said. "I've tried shutting it down using our failsafe systems, but they're not responding!"

Immediately Brimfield understood the man's panic. When his crew had stumbled upon this colony about seven years earlier, the original colonists had already long since fled. Apparently there had been rumors of a Blue Cosmos attack that promised a repeat of the Mendel Incident. The terrorists had indeed attempted to follow through with their threats, but the abandoning ZAFT personnel had left behind a rather nasty surprise. Apparently they had been planning on disbanding the colony for a while, so they had programmed their computer network to target and kill all living people who approached or entered the colony, using their automated defense system.

Years after that incident, the defense system had all but shut itself down to conserve what remaining power it had. When Brimfield arrived, he'd quickly hacked into the computers to disable the network using a powerful computer virus since he couldn't undo what the ZAFT geniuses had created. After that, it was reasonably simple for he and his crew to install their own up-to-date network. If the original ZAFT network had finally managed to adapt to and bypass the virus, the crew of the _Early Harvest_ would certainly become target practice for the killer network!

"I understand," he said, speaking a little louder due to his own sudden fear. "Continue surveying the situation and report any changes to me immediately." Turning back to face his blissfully ignorant crew, Brimfield called out, "Hidai! Saketa!"

"Hai?" the aforementioned men responded as they dropped down in front of him.

"We have a situation in the East Wing, Level Two," he said, his sharp gaze conveying the seriousness of his statement. "I need you to investigate, but suit up for possible biological and projectile weaponry."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**12:03pm**

"Change the coolant flow to half speed, adjust laser focusing point from one-point-zero-three to point-zero-zero-zero-zero-seven, switch the automated heat designator to manual targeting. All systems green." Akira muttered to himself as he sat crouched over the computer screen, his fingers seeming to randomly dance across the keyboard.

He wasn't sure why he was doing this, only that it felt…natural, right. The sensation of doing this type of work filled him with a strange sense of bitter longing. It was like the equivalent of riding a bicycle for the first time after almost three years. It was a little scary at first, but once you started moving, the more comfortable you became until it was as though you'd never stopped riding that bicycle. It felt like he'd done this countless times before and now he was merely falling back into a state of mind that was both familiar and alien at the same time.

So focused on his work, Akira didn't even notice that he had company. The two men, former ZAFT Special Forces before their disgrace at the Endymion Crater, were dressed in heavy armor and wore protective masks over their faces. They exchanged silent glances of confusion and annoyance before entering the room.

"What are you doing in here, boy?" Hidai demanded loudly, his voice causing the boy to practically jump out of his chair in fright. "This entire Wing is off-limits! Do you have any idea what could happen if you accidentally set off the defense system?!"

"We'd all die," Akira answered bluntly, still staring a little wide-eyed at the men who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "But you don't have to worry about that anymore though. I erased a few programs and made some new ones."

"What are you talking about?" Saketa asked, eyeing the boy as though he'd lost his mind. "These computers have been plagued with viruses since before we even arrived here. And these are ZAFT military defense systems. If _Captain Brimfield_ couldn't hack into and shut them down, then no one can!"

"Yeah, I know he caused the virus," Akira corrected, turning his attention back to his computer screen. "I just had to hack and cancel a few programs and system commands here and there to put the automated defense on indefinite standby." Calling up a few screens, he scooted over to offer the men a view and began pointing out a few key points to them so they'd understand.

"Captain," Hidai said, speaking in his communicator. "I think you should come see this. That kid did…something to the network here."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**12:17pm**

"I can't believe this," Brimfield muttered, more to himself than any of the others who'd crowded into the room. He was currently scrolling through the restored original ZAFT network with barely-noticeable wide eyes. He had spent the last seven years trying to slowly piece the network back together so that he'd not have to worry about his crew falling under attack. And this amnesic pilot, probably not even old enough to legally drink, had just come and fixed it in under an hour of booting it up! "This is incredible."

"You don't know the half of it!" Professor K piped up from the computer terminal that she was sitting in front of. After a request from Saketa, who was also quite experienced in mobile suit development, K had joined them in the room to examine the new designs Akira had been working on. "These are just ingenious! I never would've even considered reducing the power output of the MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine gun that the GINN used to use for an increased rapid-fire rate."

As K began babbling to herself about the seemingly insignificant adjustments that caused an overall increased efficiency rate, Brimfield turned to look sharply up at the slightly embarrassed teenager. "How is it that you cannot remember your real name, yet are a genius of computer programs and mobile suit designs, Iyadomi?"

Rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, Akira couldn't help but glance away. "I don't know, Captain…I just do."

Humming to himself as he contemplatively eyed the teenager, Brimfield considered his options. Clearly this boy had skills galore, but were they limited to simply computer analysis and suit designs? Obviously, Akira didn't even know that he could do these things until he sat down and somehow pulled the information out of his damaged memories. If that was true…what would happen if he put the boy in the cockpit of one of his GINNs?

Standing up abruptly, he turned and crossed his arms over his chest into a position that brooked no argument among his crew. "I believe I may have found a use for you while you're here, Iyadomi." Seeing the boy's curious gaze, Brimfield turned to Hidai. "Hidai, take Akira here and get him suited up. We're going to have a little _fun_."

Upon seeing Hidai's answering sneer to his Captain's statement, Akira couldn't help but feel a sudden urge to flee. They were planning something, something he was likely not going to enjoy!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**2:35pm**

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a little ridiculous?" Akira asked over the comm. "How do any of you even know that I won't accidentally crash into the asteroid?"

He sat in the cockpit of an old, badly dented GINN, wearing the same flight suit that he'd been found in a week ago. In front of him were three other mobile suits; the Captain's 'newly acquired' Strike Dagger, a purple and white tiger-striped CGUE that Hidai piloted, and a maroon GINN whose pilot Akira hadn't met yet. All four suits were carrying a standard GINN sword and their beam rifles' power settings were set low enough that even if the beams did strike, it would only knock the suit around.

"_Life is ridiculous, boy_," the unnamed pilot cheerfully answered. "_The sooner you accept that fact, the happier you'll be in the long run. Trust me, I know_."

"_That's enough chitchat, Goldie_," Brimfield said, hitting the GINN's torso with the flat of his blade just hard enough to send a painful ringing noise throughout its interior. "_Remember, this is a standard training exercise_."

"_Are you serious, Captain?!_" Goldie cried out, a clear whine in his voice.

"What's that mean?" Akira asked, somehow knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

"_It means the losers have kitchen, latrine, and hallway clean-up duty tonight_," Hidai responded, his voice resolutely neutral. "_And the crew tends to get very…**messy** after a long voyage_."

"Shit," Akira muttered to himself. He just knew that that was what he would be doing after dinner tonight!

"_Pay attention!_" Brimfield yelled as his mobile suit charged forward without warning, sword raised in preparation.

With only a second's hesitation, Akira boosted the GINN's engines and sent it rocketing upward, narrowly avoiding the Captain's vicious slash. Awkwardly adjusting the GINN's position, Akira reversed its trajectory and came down upon Brimfield's suit, sword already cocked back to swing. Brimfield's suit didn't even need to look up to see the descending GINN. The Captain merely punched the thrusters and shot away safely, leaving the GINN to make an awkward landing.

Seeing an opportunity, Hidai and Goldie rushed. Spotting their charging forms in the corner of his eye, Akira simultaneously brought his sword up to block while having his GINN jump to the side. Sparks erupted off his blade as Hidai's sword was roughly deflected to the side. Goldie, with awesome reflexes, caught his footing and immediately gave pursuit to the fleeing GINN. Pushing the old GINN's thrusters to the maximum, Akira pulled out the GINN's rifle with its spare hand and began to aimlessly fire shots at the attacking GINN.

"_Never lose sight of your enemies!_" the Captain's voice called out as a sudden impact knocked Akira about the cockpit very roughly. The added g-forces made the impact even worse. Something grabbed a hold of his GINN's right arm and threw him to the side as though he were a lightweight. Only a split-second save by Akira's once again blasting the engines prevented him from crashing into the cliff behind him.

Just as he was about to raise his rifle to fire, he became acutely aware of the Strike Dagger's sword resting within inches of his GINN's cockpit. Panting slightly now that he had a chance to breathe, Akira stared at the Captain's mobile suit while the other two approached from the sides.

"_How did we beat you?_" Brimfield asked as he opened visual communications.

"It's three on one," Akira said, trying to keep his irritation out of his voice. "and I'm using this piece of junk GINN…Besides you're all a lot better pilots than I am."

"_That is wrong on two counts_," Brimfield said, shaking his head while staring sternly at the teenager. "_Even the best equipment in the world would not stand a chance against a person who was familiar and comfortable with the most outdated model. If you and I were to switch our mobile suits, who would win? I would, of course, because I'm more experienced with the GINN than this Strike Dagger._"

Then the Captain gave Akira a small smile as he continued, "_Besides, your reflexes are superb. You've been able to dodge or deflect all of our attacks so far and have been able to avoid crashing despite us not giving you much of a chance to fight back_." Now the Captain's frown returned full force. "_Your problem most likely is you're focusing too much on fighting us one on one. You need to develop your spatial awareness more if you ever hope to survive in mobile suit combat again_."

"Yes sir," Akira said quietly. He nodded his head to prevent the man from being able to see his frown. Akira really didn't _want_ to have to fight again, that much he knew for sure.

"_Good_," Brimfield stated with a note of finality to his voice. "_Now, are you defeated or merely resting?_"

Looking up in confusion, Akira stared at the Captain. What did he mean by that? Defeated or merely resting…? Then it hit him: the Captain was giving him the chance to back down or to continue. Well considering that he'd likely have to do 'clean-up duty' if he back down, Akira's response to the question was to finally bring the barrel of the rifle up in the direction of the Strike Dagger's cockpit. That action, not matter how slight it may have been, was enough to cause the Brimfield to back away quickly.

The fight resumed in earnest.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**11:31pm**

After laying the exhausted boy down on the bed in the quarters that had been given to him, Brimfield silently left the boy to sleep in peace. He had run Akira through a series of exercises and duels in the GINN for almost seven hours straight, stopping only to change suits when the ones they were using ran out of power. Despite the boy's best efforts, he was still condemned to the gruesome experience of dishwashing, mopping, and alcohol-induced vomit-cleaning. Those chores had taken him a very long time to complete due to the sheer amount he had to sanitize, with some help from Hidai and Goldie who had taken pity on him after the first three hours.

Now Brimfield sat in his personal office, reviewing the total inventory of the parts they'd collected on their most recent trip. With all these parts, they could easily reassemble nearly six individual squadrons. And the bonus of selling a rebuilt-Freedom to ZAFT would have him and his crew set for life. It was a fanciful thought, but he knew he'd miss this life of scavenging, pirating, and danger.

"Still up I see," a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts from the doorway.

"You really need to learn to knock, K," he growled out in his annoyance. Why did she _always_, without fail, do that?! "What do you need? I'm busy."

"What do you plan to do with that kid? Iyadomi, was that his name?" K asked, moving into the room so the door could close properly.

"I had just planned on helping him get back onto his feet and then take him to the PLANTs when he's ready," Brimfield answered as he set down the inventory reports to face the redhead. "Why?"

Smiling in that 'almost knowing' way that she knew annoyed him, K said, "I didn't realize you'd adopted the policy of retraining mobile suit pilots, especially amnesic pilots…You wanna keep him, don't you?"

Forgoing their usual games of denial and retaliation, Brimfield nodded ever so slightly. "The kid is just amazing. In the time it took him to master flying those GINN units, I had been still be struggling at figuring out which button was used to boost the engines and which to fire the rifle. He will make an _incredible_ pilot someday, especially if he can regain his memories."

Sighing dramatically, K shook her head almost woefully. "Men and their toys of mass destruction." Seeing Brimfield giving her _that_ glare, the one which usually resulted in her rapid exit of his room, she said, "I want Iyadomi to help me with a few things tomorrow when we begin to dismantle and reconstruct the Freedom. I have a feeling his level of expertise in mobile suit design could be easily transferred to maintenance and repair. He'd be an invaluable assistant."

Staring at K with his usual hard gaze, Brimfield thought her request over carefully. He really wanted to give Akira more practice within mobile suit cockpits as soon as possible. However, he could also see the potential of K's request.

Letting out a weary sigh, he said, "We'll see what Iyadomi says tomorrow. Now leave."

"You really need to lighten up a bit, old man," K muttered smiling, knowing that she was annoying him all the more. Honestly, Brimfield was just _too_ easily to tease sometimes.

**

* * *

(Author's Note)** Man, I must be more obsessed with this story idea than I'd originally thought; to get the second chapter out mere days after the first one?! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I was trying to show that no matter what happens, Akira is still Kira at heart. That being said, I figured that he could/should regain some of his older talents rather quickly. This is extremely important for the storyline as a whole; the sooner he's able to re-master those skills again, the better.

The following is a little background information on the Early Harvest. If you want to see a picture of what it looks like, use this link. www(dot)mahq(dot)net/mecha/gundam/index(dot)htm. Please note that the corresponding picture is not _entirely_ accurate.

EARLY HARVEST  
**Class: **Cornelius**  
Unit type:** salvage ship (heavily modified)  
**Manufacturer:** Morgenroete, Inc  
**Operator:** Captain Jonas Brimfield, crew  
**First deployment:** unknown  
**Dimensions:** unknown  
**Wingspan:** unknown  
**Weight:** unknown  
**Propulsion:** unknown  
**Equipment and design features:  
**Mirage Colloid  
Sensors, range unknown  
**Fixed armaments:  
**4 x manipulator arms, mounted on hull  
2 x shield, mounted on aft hull  
2 x "Lohengrin" positron blaster gun  
1 x "Gottfried Mk.71" 225cm high-energy beam cannon, mounted on bow hull in front of the bridge  
10 x surface-to-ship missile launchers  
8 x surface-to-air missile launchers  
**Mobile weapons:  
**? x ZGMF-1017 GINN  
? x GAT-01 Strike Dagger  
? x ZGMF-515 CGUE  
**Launch catapults:** 2


	3. Difference Between Beliefs

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 3: Difference Between Beliefs_

**December 6, 71 C.E  
Mathilde Colony, 8:20 am**

It had been roughly two months since Akira had recovered. In that time, he'd not gone a single day without performing some kind of work for the pirates. If he wasn't being put to work by Professor K on working with analyzing the Freedom, he was being drilled in mobile suit combat and battle strategies. Akira didn't much mind all the work since it was keeping him occupied. The only thing he quickly grew to hate about the schedule was the high probability that more often than not he'd be stuck on cleanup duty after losing in the training drills.

Akira had learned very quickly that the pirates of the _Early Harvest_ were much more than their occupation suggested. Each one of them had been, and still were, good people who had fallen into some very bad luck or circumstances. Actually a fair portion of them had lived on Junius 7 before the Bloody Valentine Tragedy but had survived due to being away from home on business. After the tragedy, the PLANTs had quickly entered into the war and been unable to offer much more than condolences to them. In desperation, they had turned to Captain Brimfield and the _Early Harvest_.

Apparently, he was something of an enigma to them. The main reason was that Captain Brimfield, who was strictly a professional in everything he did, had all but acknowledged that Akira was now his protégé. Not only was he personally training Akira (quite brutally), but Akira's rapid skill growth was nothing short of phenomenal. Plus his analysis and engineering of mobile suits and their weaponry made him Professor K's instant favorite.

It was that same technological and analytical genius that he was now practicing. He was sitting in the old ZAFT command center with Professor K working next to him. Normally the pair of them would be surrounded by a horde of mechanics as they submerged themselves into the bowels of the Freedom's torso to locate what needed to fixed, removed, or replaced. However just the other day one of their computer-smart mechanics, who had been in the midst of running a memory-wipe of the old CPU, had stumbled upon a very interesting program that had been safely hidden in the depths of the Freedom's computer database.

It had taken Professor K and Akira several hours to decipher the coded matrixes and fully understand the program's design. It was a type of combat record of the Freedom that the program stored, analyzed, and distributed the collected data. At first the purpose of such a redundant program had confused Akira until K shared her opinion on the matter. Despite its awesome power and capabilities, the Freedom was still classified as an experimental model. The designers of the Freedom were, by nature, always looking for ways to improve or replace existing weapons. So this program was created as a way of receiving data not only on the Freedom's limitations, but also on any other model that the Gundam would be battling. But to do that, the program would need a special transmitting device that would send the data directly to the Experimental Weaponry Research Division in Armory One. That was the reason behind K and Akira's present project.

Now that they had discovered the top-secret program, Professor K had gotten a truly malicious idea of revenge of sorts for their banishment of her. Captain Brimfield, ever the pirate, approved of the plan wholeheartedly. The idea was to piggyback off the signal the program used and infiltrate the Division's network. From there it would be a simple matter of acquiring any data on experimental mobile suit designs that ZAFT was planning to put into production. Of course there was always the chance of them being detected, but that was of little concern to them at this point.

That was the plan, and so far it was working splendidly. With Akira's computer skills and K's familiarity with secret ZAFT networks, they were easily evading detection. However Akira didn't like what he was seeing on his monitor. ZAFT was _definitely_ developing new models of the aging GINN and some rather unique G.U.N.D.A.M.s as well. But there were also designs of some kind of large-scale energy shields similar to the lightwave barrier used on the Eurasia satellite of Artemis.

"Why are they still doing this?" he demanded angrily, somewhere inside him a piece of his consciousness was seething at the sight he was seeing. "The war is practically over and the peace talks are still going very smoothly. What's the point of continuing to build weapons?!"

"Not everyone is as forgiving or practical as you are, Iyadomi," K answered, not looking up from her terminal. "Though I'll admit that what I'm seeing does raise quite a few questions. The only reason to further build more weapons of these calibers is if they or someone is planning on using them."

Akira's frown deepened considerably as he continued to watch the designs flash by on his screen. He knew that a lot of ZAFT personnel wanted to continue their genocidal war with Earth, as the Alliance clearly did as well. But Akira also knew without a doubt that if a war started up again so soon, the only thing that would stop it was complete victory for one side or the other.

It was in that moment that Akira Iyadomi decided what his goal would be in the near future. Both sides wanted to finish their war and fulfill their hatred, it was the only thing they really understood at this point in time. And if fighting and pointless battles were all they wanted…then he'd give it to them. Even if he had to fight a one-man war against both sides, he wouldn't let them point their weapons each other!

"Download complete," he intoned as his fingers started dancing across the keyboard. "Removing evidence of theft, upload initiating."

"Upload?" K asked, looking up from where she had been eagerly studying the designs of the ZGMF-X23S Savior. "What are you doing?"

"Showing my _appreciation_ for their efforts of maintaining the peace," Akira said in a voice that made ice seem warm.

Letting out a sigh of resignation, K just rubbed her forehead. If she had known what he'd been intending to do, she'd have tried to stop him. But it was clear that he'd already started the process. To stop him now would be an open invitation to call all of ZAFT's still remaining military down on their heads. Well, at least this way she now knew what to expect from them in the future and could suitably prepare the _Early Harvest_ for that eventuality.

"Let me guess," she said as she returned her attention to the plans in front of her. "You're going to completely wipe their database clean."

"For starters," Akira answered with his voice no less cold or angry.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**9:49am**

Brimfield watched the loading of the various mobile suits into the _Early Harvest_ from his customary position location in the command tower of the large internal docking bay. It was time for he and his crew to start their old pirating practices again and that meant loading an acceptable amount of weapons. On his salvage trips, Brimfield only used an average of six to eight mobile suits (the last trip being the exception due to the battlefield's immense size). But when they did pirating trips, they needed more suits with more firepower for protection, even if the added protection sacrificed storage space for any goods they acquired.

The hissing door announced the arrival of his unofficial protégé and his escort. Turning to face the pair, Brimfield spotted a look of anger on Vide's face. There wasn't much that could anger the short-haired woman, but it did happen and usually over less-than-trivial things too.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Akira asked, his gaze quickly taking in the activity behind the commander center's windows. "You're going on a run?"

"That's correct," Brimfield said as he crossed his arms. "and I want you to accompany us."

Akira's gaze snapped to Brimfield's in an instant. "Why?"

"It's time for you experience real combat," the captain answered without hesitation. "You've come a long way in your training. But there's only so far that training can replicate the chaos of battle. If you really want to improve, you have to be fighting for your life. And this journey will certainly see its share of danger, based on the prize we're after."

"And what's that prize, sir?"

"Food, water, raw materials like wood and ore, to name a few," Brimfield answered. "While we could certainly attempt to sell some of our merchandise to our benefactors, we are in rather desperate need of these necessities and do not have the time to waste haggling with the dealers."

Akira nodded slightly. He was well aware of the recent shortages they'd been having. Such as bathing and water limitations, how much food was generally served during the meals, and even a rather sudden lack of warmth in the hallways and rooms as the colony heating system was cut back farther and farther to conserve energy. Yes, they needed more supplies and quickly.

Seeing the acceptance in his eyes, Brimfield looked up at Vide with a questioning gaze. "Something I should know about, Vide?"

Snorting derisively, the middle-aged woman said, "Akira is starting to get very headstrong about some…issues, Captain."

"Like?"

"Professor K and I hacked into ZAFT as you know," Akira broke in. "When I finished the data transfer, I left them a little present."

"What did you do?" Brimfield asked, unknowingly repeating K.

"I set up a virus that would erase their network and cause it to crash every time they tried to repair it. Similar to the one you used here, only a lot more powerful." Akira was openly smiling at the thought of how much grief his 'present' was giving ZAFT at the moment. "The only way they can fix it is to completely shut down their network and install an entirely new one. They won't be able to put much thought into building any more of those stupid war machines for a while now."

"And in the process you've invited the Alliance to attack ZAFT while it's having this little problem," Vide snapped, not at all amused. "You're endangering the lives of several million Coordinators!"

"ZAFT and the PLANTs are smart enough to hide this little problem until they've figured out how to get rid of it," Akira answered, his voice hard as he turned a sharp gaze on the woman. "Besides, what good is a peace treaty if you're secretly building more weapons behind the backs of those you're trying to negotiate with? This way they will _have_ to seriously consider accepting the treaty. Besides, they're not the only ones having this little problem."

"What do you mean?" Vide demanded, still quite angry with the boy.

"Let's just say I wasn't the only one hacking into ZAFT," Kira said, frowning deeply. "So I piggybacked off that signal infected the Alliance's network as well. Whatever they were trying to steal is gone now, along with all their own designs for more weapons."

"Do you have _any_ idea of the forces that you're playing with, _boy?!_" Vide snapped, practically foaming at the mouth in her barely-suppressed fury.

"That's enough of this kind of talk!" Brimfield cut in before Vide could continue. "We are not politicians or soldiers, so we'll not worry about issues that do not immediately concern us." Turning back to Akira, he said, "Akira, go load your suit. I'm lending you to the Strike Dagger called High Blue for the duration of this trip. Until we find a suit more compatible with you, take good care the High Blue."

"Yes, Captain," Akira said before leaving to get dressed into his flight suit.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Captain?" Vide asked once the door had closed behind the boy. "Keeping him here? At the rate and direction he's going, he's going to endanger us all with his ridiculous notions on how the world should be run and by not thinking his actions through!"

Sighing wearily, Brimfield rubbed his temples to ward off the approaching headache. Politics and war were the two main reasons he had chosen the career he was currently in. With Akira diving headfirst into these kinds of matters, no matter how good his intentions were, it was only logical that Vide was correct in her statement. He would have to have a long talk with the kid later about this. Maybe he wouldn't be able to stop him, but at the very least turn his attention away long enough that it wouldn't affect their pirating operations in a personal matter.

"I understand what you're saying, Vide," he said looking the woman in the eye. "And I do agree with you. I'll talk to Iyadomi on the matter later. But for the moment, you should also get your suit aboard. I think we'll need as many skilled pilots as we can get."

"Yes sir," she answered, saluting smartly before leaving.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**December 19, 71 C.E.  
**_**Excalibur**_**, 1:05 pm**

Sighing in his boredom, he just stared up at the ceiling of the personal quarters that he'd commandeered upon boarding the ship. No matter how much he tried to, it just felt weird being back aboard a ship that was practically a mirror image of the one that had been apart of the Three Ships Alliance. There was a sense of almost kinship with the vessel for him. He had spent a large portion of his time scouting ahead of the _Kusanagi_ for danger and protecting it valiantly in the battles that it participated in. Yes, he could rather easily call the _Excalibur_, like the _Kusanagi_ and _Archangel_, home away home.

Growling slightly as the name of the former Earth Alliance's vessel triggered unpleasant memories, he rolled over onto his side of the bed he was lying upon. It had been almost three months since that day of the final battle and yet it still felt as though it had happened just yesterday. In his mind's eye, he could still clearly remember sitting in the cockpit of his M1 Astray as he battled a countless number of GINN and Strike Daggers.

Then his mind finally reached the _really_ unpleasant memories. He had gotten separated from his assigned squadron in all the confusion when the EA had resumed its attack. Due to the 'luck' of the battle, he had gotten caught up in the fighting closest to the ZAFT super weapon called GENESIS. Thus he had been present to watch Kira in the Freedom Gundam fighting that new ZAFT Gundam. Kira had fought with a brutal disregard to the wellbeing of the Freedom in his furious need to destroy the Providence. At one point in the fighting, it was clear that the Providence was gaining the upper hand so he had decided to play interference and distract the enemy pilot. However, his plan had backfired badly with Kira having to jump forward and protect _him_ from Le Creuset's DRAGOONS. This resulted in the Freedom losing its headpiece. Thankfully though, Kira had somehow been able to deliver the final blow and destroy the Providence just seconds before GENESIS blew up.

He had tried searching, along with Cagalli and Athrun, for the Freedom and Kira. But they couldn't find any trace of either the Gundam or its pilot. No matter how likely it seemed to be the case, he and the others had refused to believe that Kira had gotten caught in the final explosion. No, he was far too skilled a pilot to have let something like that happen to him! They had spent days frantically searching the battlefield for any sign of their friend, very slowly giving up hope as the hours stretched without an answer to their cries. And now it had been nearly three months since then. A lot had happened since then and they were forced to move on, regardless of whether Kira had survived or not.

That was one of the reasons why he was here now, lounging lazily in the room that was where his old room on the _Kusanagi_ had been. After the Battle of Orb, he had enlisted into the Orb military and became an Ensign in control of a mobile suit. His enlistment was far different than many others. At first he had merely enlisted to forego the annoying complications that came with being a civilian piloting a military weapon. But now he did it because he felt he owed it to his friend to carry on protecting those closest to him from danger. And while the war may be ending, tensions between both sides were still quite high.

Actually, now that he thought about it, his enlistment was quite similar to Kira's into the Atlantic Federation about six months earlier. He had climbed into a slightly damaged M1 Astray on the first day of the Atlantic Federation's attack on Onogoro Island after the original pilot had been forced to eject due to some kind of injury. Thanks to pure luck and the support of the other Astray pilots, he had survived a trial by fire in the mechanics and operations of mobile suit combat. He was _still_ very green, but his superb reflexes (the very things that he saved his life earlier in the year) had served him well.

Perhaps it was due to that trial by fire, but his skill level had shown quite brightly on all the battlefields since then. He had quickly attracted the eye of Erica Simmons, who approached him only three weeks ago with a request he couldn't turn down. The chance to test pilot one of Orb's new experimental suits? Oh, he was _so_ there! Now he was the proud pilot of the MVF-M11C Murasame, a transformable unit with a few other hidden features.

Because of that same experimental mobile suit, he had been assigned as an escort almost by default. Mrs. Simmons was curious about the Murasame's space performance capabilities. Thus, once they'd achieved a stable cruising speed on their journey to the PLANTs with the cargo, he would be deployed to perform a few flight and weapons' tests. Until that time, there was nothing for him to do at this point but to start reminiscing on the past.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he climbed to his feet and launched himself for the doorway. If relaxing meant that he'd be condemned to remembering things he didn't want to, then he'd just go play with the simulator down in the hangar or see if he could be of some use to the maintenance crews down there.

"I still can't believe they're using a full-fledged warship to transport supplies like a freighter," a voice nearby was saying, snapping him out of his reverie. There were two Orb officers drifting ahead of him, talking in low voices and not seeming to have noticed his presence yet. "Are they expecting some kind of trouble or something?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that so much," the other officer said in a weary tone. "But it's better to be safe than sorry. With all the trouble that the Alliance has been having with their defense networks due to that damn virus, I wouldn't put it past the radicals to start placing blame on the Coordinators and trying to start the war up again."

"You know, I also heard a rumor that ZAFT is having a similar problem with their defense network," the first officer said in a thoughtful tone. "I wonder if the two events are related."

"Don't be ridiculous," the second snapped in annoyance. "To hack into both the Alliance and ZAFT's networks and plant a virus capable of shutting them down without being noticed, within at least twenty minutes of one another as well, would require at least a team of computer _geniuses_ working solely for that purpose, even for Coordinators. And even if the Coordinators did cause the virus, why infect themselves as well?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the first agreed. "In that case, I guess that being overly prepared is better than being underequipped. But it still seems excessive to use a battleship as a transport."

Snorting in his annoyance at his companion's persistence, the second officer said, "If it'll make you feel any better, I overheard one of the bridge-bunnies talking about pirates that have been prowling around the area we're heading towards."

"Pirates? Well, now it makes a bit more sense at least," the first said.

If there was anything else the duo was going to discuss, he didn't hear it because he'd finally reached the elevator that would take him down to the mobile suit hangar. However he didn't much care for what else could've been said. There were pirates in the area? He didn't know that…did Mrs. Simmons know when she requested his presence on the _Excalibur_ or was this just a coincidence?

No, it was too convenient to be a coincidence. Especially considering how much more valuable the data on the new Murasame's space combat would be if it was based on _actual_ combat. Yes, Mrs. Simmons had most assuredly known and sent him for that possibility that they'd be attacked. It was be a field test for the machine as well as yet some more precious combat experience for him; a real win-win situation…as long as he didn't die.

Understanding the implications much more deeply, he pushed himself off the floor to float up quickly towards the Murasame's open cockpit. If he was likely going to go into battle, he needed to fine-tune his Gundam's OS for combat and maneuverability in zero-gravity. He was no computer expert like Kira, but he still knew enough about the program that he wouldn't make any serious mistakes without realizing it.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**1:24pm**

"_Remember, crew_," a deep, filtered voice thundered on the radio. "_We're only here to take what we need. Disable the transport ship's engines; destroy their defensive weapons, no killing if it can be prevented, and no excessive damage to the hull! Understand, Kuromaru?_"

This was the _Early Harvest_'s standard policy when they went on pirate runs. They would only cause enough damage to get the target ship to surrender; killing was considered a last resort since any deaths of the crews of the victim ship would invite a pirate-hunter party. Plus all their helmets and radios were carefully outfitted with voice filter to prevent any radio interceptions from revealing the identity of any of the pirates. This was so if any of them wished to leave the _Harvest_'s service, they would not be discriminated against when they returned to normal society.

"_I'll try to restrain myself, Captain_," a snide voice answered. Though Akira hadn't met the man yet, he could already tell he didn't like him, based off his voice tone and apparent disregard to his Captain's orders.

Akira and about twenty other mobile suits were clustered together in the _Early Harvest_'s catapult bays. The ship itself was still under the Mirage Colloid as they silently crept up behind the _Izumo_-class Orb warship. Despite himself, Akira could feel his apprehension and fear beginning to rise. This would be his first real mission, against real people who would definitely be shooting to kill. Failure here meant certain death. Could he do it?

A sudden pair of loud explosions of sound and _Early Harvest_'s gently trembling quickly awoke Akira from his thoughts. He immediately realized that they had just fired their twin Lohengrin cannons. Though he couldn't tell if they hit their intended targets, namely the _Izumo_'s engines, he did know that his time was rapidly approaching. With those first shots, the _Early Harvest_ would have to drop its Mirage Colloid in order to properly launch its mobile suits. Speaking of which, all his current suit was equipped with was a mere shield, a single beam saber, and a rifle. Was that going to be enough to fight a fully armed and rather formidable capital ship?

The launch bay doors suddenly opened at the end of the catapult. Akira waited with a nervous sort of excitement as he watched one unit after another launch forward until it was finally his turn. "Akira Iyadomi, High Blue, launching!"

The high g-forces of the catapult caught him by momentary surprise and slammed him back into the cockpit seat. Recovering quickly, he punched the Strike Dagger's thrusters to the maximum as he disconnected from the _Early Harvest_'s power cable and shot into space. Raising his beam rifle into the ready position and bring his shield up in front of him, he raced forward to join the group that he'd be participating with.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

Hurriedly dressing into his flight suit, he grabbed his helmet and secured it into place while sprinting back down to the hangar. A sudden bad feeling settled into his stomach as he noticed an especially large number of mechanics swarming over his mobile suit. Yelling out a warning for them to clear away from the suit, he launched himself for the cockpit.

As he was about to disappear within the torso of his Murasame, the lead mechanic called out to him. "Hey, kid, hold up a second!"

"What is it?" he yelled, urgency clear in his voice as he automatically began the start-up system. "We're under attack!"

"I know that but listen to me!" the mechanic insisted. "While we were doing some last minute checks, I noticed that there was a shorted out circuit in one of the battery connections. It'll take up about ten minutes to jury-rig some new components into place."

"Ten minutes!" he yelled out in exasperation, but still ceased powering up the suit. "This fight will probably be over in _five_ minutes!"

"Trust me, kid, we know that!" the mechanic stated vehemently, scowling deeply at the situation they were in. "And we're working as hard as we can. You'll just have to hope that the other M1 pilots will be able to hold them off for you."

Yelling out in frustration, he slammed his fists into the side of the cockpit. He was so close to getting to properly test out this new model! How was he supposed to live up Kira's legacy if he couldn't even get out of the launch bay?!

It was an aggravating wait. He watched as his fellow pilots launched out of the open bay doors. He was the flashes and streaks of light as the battle outside intensified. He could feel the _Excalibur_ tremble and shake in ways that were eerily reminiscent of all the times the _Archangel_ had been struck. Either the pirates were being extremely sloppy in their targeting, or the _Excalibur_'s gunnery crews were able to hold off a vast majority of their attacks.

Finally, after felt like hours, the mechanics proclaimed him ready to fight. Wasting no time, he shut the cockpit and proceeded to the catapult. Sealing his helmet's visor, he called out to the _Excalibur_'s CIC, "Tolle Koenig, Murasame, launching!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**1:40pm**

Outside, chaos ruled the vacuum of space. Despite the Astray pilots' best efforts, the more experienced pirates and their superior numbers had steadily wheedled down their ranks until there were only a small handful of the truly skilled pilots remaining. The _Early Harvest_ was engaged in a fierce battle of ship vs. ship combat. In this arena, the Orb warship was faring much better due to its superior armament and agility.

Akira was one of several mobile suits who was actively attempting to disable the _Izumo_'s weapons and remaining engines. The Orb engineers truly did deserve their reputation for being some of the best to be able to build a ship that could still fight so effectively after gaining so much damage.

As he was making another strafing run down upon the warship's portside missile launchers, he spotted a mobile suit shoot out of the hangar. "This is High Blue," he called instantly. "A new mobile suit has just launched from the _Izumo!_"

"_I'm on it!_" someone responded almost instantly.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Akira brought his shield and rifle up. With a series of precise shots, he managed to strike some of the missile launchers as they began firing once more. The sudden explosion within its protective casing caused a chain reaction with resulted in the entire array detonating violently. Spotting the Igelstellungs closest to him suddenly swerve in his direction, he immediately shifted his shield's position and reversed his flight path. The automated beam cannons' shots went wide, missing him by a considerable margin.

Akira couldn't help but smile ever so slightly. As much as he hated doing this, it was kind of exhilarating in its own strange way. Like riding a roller coaster at a theme park back on Earth, fast, dizzying, unpredictable, yet completely exciting. The adrenaline that was gushing through his veins was boosting his energy levels and had practically tripled his reaction time.

A sudden pair of screams accompanied by the flare of an explosion snapped Akira back into the present. Quickly surveying the battlefield, he spotted the cause being that new mobile suit that had just launched. Yet before his eyes, it had changed shape into that of a rather streamlined jetfighter and rocketed towards the _Early Harvest_.

"No!" he yelled to himself, launching the High Blue to chase after the new suit with all due speed. Captain Brimfield had been more than generous in his actions at saving and treating him after they'd found him, and then taking the time to train him in mobile suit combat and teaching him some rather invaluable lessons. He wouldn't allow the _Early Harvest_ to be destroyed!

Pushing the Strike Dagger to its maximum speed potential, he quickly was on course to intercept the suit due to the perpendicular paths of flight. As he neared, he exchanged the beam rifle in favor of the saber. Cutting directly across the path of the current mobile armor, he brought his shield up protectively to block the beams that it had just started shooting. Swinging his saber forward, he watched in slight frustration and reluctant acknowledgement as the pilot suddenly swerved to the side and avoided the close strike.

Transforming back into a mobile suit, the pilot drew his own beam saber as he yelled across the radio, "_What do you idiots think you're doing?!_"

"That vessel is carrying food and water, is it not?" Akira asked, not caring that the pilot would hear the same filtered voice as the rest of the pirate crew. "We desperately need those supplies."

"_So that just justifies attacking a neutral country's ship that's trying to send some war-relief supplies to the ones who truly need it?!_" the now enraged pilot yelled in response as his suit took on unmistakable threatening stance before ruthlessly attacking. "_You filthy pirates!_"

Blocking and countering each strike with his own beam saber or shield, Akira ground his teeth together in his anger. "Just because I'm flying with them doesn't make me a pirate! Plus, who are you to judge who needs those supplies more desperately than who doesn't?!"

Breaking away from the enemy suit, Akira shutdown the saber and switched it for his rifle in an instant while sending a spray of rapid-fire Igelstellung shots out to cover his retreat. Quickly aiming his rifle, he started firing with careful precision, his shots only aimed towards non-vital sections of the suit, like the arms, legs, and headpiece. A disabled suit was much more readily withdrawn and forgiven than a destroyed unit and a dead pilot.

Those surprisingly fast reflexes of the enemy pilot came into play once again. The shield was hoisted up just enough to deflect the first few beams aimed for the headpiece while the pilot shifted to the side to dodge the rest. This guy was pretty fast for a Natural, if he was indeed a Natural that is.

"_The fact that you have to resort to stealing them only proves that they're not meant for you and your friends!_" the enemy yelled back, continuing their earlier conversation as he grabbed his own rifle and fired back.

"So because we weren't on some special 'waiting list' means that our lives and dreams are not significant enough to warrant them?" Akira demanded, feeling his anger growing quickly. "While at the same time the PLANTs, who can easily acquire their own supplies themselves, are privileged to get surplus?!"

"_If you are so desperate for some food and water, get a real--__**legal--**__job and pay for them!_" the pilot yelled, one of his shots flew true and hit Akira's rifle, destroying it.

"You're really starting to piss me off," Akira warned as he withdrew his beam saber.

"_Don't like hearing the truth?_" the pilot taunted. "_Then hold still and I'll put you out of your misery!_" Shifting back to his mobile armor form, the fighter lunged forward and partially to the side, curving around Akira's Strike Dagger.

Turning with the suit, Akira felt a gasp of horror clench his chest. Due to how involved he'd gotten in his fight with the new suit, he'd forgotten the main reason he'd engaged the unit in the first place. Now, he watched in renewed horror and anger as the persistent pilot readied to attack the _Early Harvest_'s bridge directly.

Somewhere within Akira's conscious mind, something exploded. With its eruption, a sudden eerie calm overtook his rampaging emotions. He was focused and determined with one goal in mind: protect the _Early Harvest_.

With a sudden heightened reaction time, Akira slammed the Strike Dagger's engines to their maximum. As his velocity quickly increased, he realized that his mobile suit didn't have the necessary amount of thrust power needed to intercept or catch up to the armor. The solution came to his mind in an instant. He threw his shield forward with all the power and strength his suit could generate. Combined with his already great speed, the shield flashed forward and slammed into the side of the armor with enough force to send it into an uncontrolled spin over the _Early Harvest_. As he was racing towards the quickly reorienting armor, he swung his Strike Dagger down and grabbed his shield again.

The transformable suit quickly changed modes back into the suit and recovered from its spin much more quickly. Just as the pilot was bringing his rifle forward, Akira seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, already swinging his beam saber towards the cockpit. But milliseconds before actually slicing through it, he heard the pilot scream out in fear. It was from hearing that scream, the same one he'd been hearing at odd times throughout the entire battle, that he'd made a decision on a whim. He lowered the angle of his beam saber just enough that it cut through the suit's upper thighs, missing the cockpit by only a few precious feet.

Bringing his Strike Dagger to an instant halt behind the damaged unit, Akira yelled out, "I'd suggest you _never_ attempt to fight dirty like that _again!_" Then he kicked the suit powerfully into its engine pack on its back, adding further damage to the unit. "Do you surrender?"

"_Who are you?_" there was an obvious hint of fear in the pilot's voice.

"I don't know," Akira answered evenly. "So I've decided to call myself Akira Iyadomi until I remember."

"_Akira Iyadomi…?_"

"Do you surrender?" Akira repeated.

After a long moment, the pilot finally ground out, "…_Yes_."

It was that submission that snapped Akira back to himself and the battle calm that had overwhelmed him vanished. Surveying the battlefield quickly, he saw the battle seemed to have mostly ended at that point. A combination of the _Early Harvest_ attacking from the warship's blind spot, the overwhelming numbers of mobile suits they'd launched into comparison to Orb's amount, and finally the efficiency of an experienced team had all resulted in the _Izumo_-class ship having to surrender, despite putting up a valiant retaliation to the surprise attack.

In fact, even as he was watching, the _Izumo_-class was launching it trio of return flares for its remaining mobile suits. Since they were technically no longer enemies, Akira had no qualms in grabbing onto the damaged unit and flying it back towards its mothership. As he did so, he idly glanced at the remaining power in his Strike Dagger's battery.

It was practically in the red zone! Was he lucky he'd won the fight when he did!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**5:00pm**

"That was quite a display you put on out there, Akira," Brimfield said, seemingly disinterested in the subject.

In the Captain's hand was the final report of the supplies they'd acquired from the _Izumo_-class warship. All totaled, they had only taken about half of the ship's current cargo. While they could've certainly taken much more, they had enough to settle their immediate needs and allow them time to properly sell their salvaged and rebuilt units.

"Tell me," he continued. "Were you at any point holding back during all those training sessions we've had recently? What happened out there earlier?"

"No sir," Akira answered, torn between being embarrassed and confused. "I was just…I don't know…I just knew I didn't want that pilot to destroy the _Early Harvest_."

"I see." Setting the reports down on the table in his quarters, he turned to face the boy whom he'd taken in with a serious expression. "I won't lie to you, Iyadomi. You saved our lives out there today. We hadn't noticed that mobile suit's approach, I suspect it has some kind of new special shielding that masks it to our sensors. In any case, we had been focusing on _Izumo_-class, a rookie mistake on my part."

"What are you trying to say, Captain?" Akira asked slowly. In all the time he'd known this man, he never once struck him as the kind to give out sappy 'thank you' speeches. He preferred the method of giving gifts to express his level of gratitude, be it a raise of pay or special privileges at Mathilde or on the _Early Harvest_.

"I think it's time I made my decision official," Brimfield said, turning back to his table to pick up a small folder that had been resting on it. "You have an unbelievable amount of talent for piloting. You're now easily the best pilot of all of us pirates onboard this ship. So, as much as it pains me to say this, it seems only logical that I give you a mobile suit that best reflects your capabilities."

"Which one is that, Captain?" Akira asked, suddenly feeling a strange excitement rising up from his stomach.

"It's back at Mathilde Colony," Brimfield hinted. "It's rather damaged, but I have some rather skilled mechanics working on repairing it. Once it has been properly repaired, it's yours to use as you see fit."

Akira couldn't stop the slightly childish glare he was now sending towards Brimfield. "There are at least five hundred mobile suits being repaired back at Mathilde at any given time…You're enjoying leaving me in the dark, aren't you?"

"Very much," Brimfield replied, the seriousness in his voice belying the actually amount of amusement he was feeling. "There is also another matter I wanted to discuss with you. Given what you know of its programs and probable limitations, what is your opinion on upgrading or altering the ZGMF-X10A Freedom?"

Suddenly unaccountably interested, Akira mused for a moment before saying, "It's definitely possible, I'd say. If you'd allow me to, I'd love to go digging through your surplus for armaments that we could add to it. It was extremely damaged when you first found it and missing quite a few key design features. Though with the data we downloaded and are using to rebuild those missing pieces, it shouldn't be difficult at all to incorporate new additions to it."

Nodding, Brimfield said, "Once we return to Mathilde, and you've had time to rest, I'm giving you and Professor K free reign of all our equipment and stores. Use as much as you see fit, redesign or change the Freedom as much as you want."

"Why are you doing this, Captain?" Akira asked, suspicion alight in his eyes as he stared at the elder man. "I thought the whole purpose of rebuilding the Freedom was to restore it to its _original_ state."

"At first, that was indeed the case," Brimfield acknowledged with a nod of his head. "But as time passes, change is inevitable. People and technology both must evolve to survive that change. That is one of the most basic truths of the universe." Seeing the boy's slow nod of agreement, he continued, "I believe there are still dark days on the horizon. And whoever becomes the pilot of the Freedom would benefit greatly to any changes we add to it right now…Who knows, maybe that pilot will one day finish what the original one couldn't quite do."

Nodding again, Akira turned to leave. "I'll start drawing up some new designs immediately."

As the boy left the room, he never saw the triumphant smile on Brimfield's face. As brilliant as the kid may be, he was still very much a child at heart. Then again, this little personality quirk of his would only serve to make the grand unveiling of his new mobile suit all the more surprising and amusing.

**

* * *

(Author's Note)** Whew, that was killer chapter! I hope you all enjoyed the fight scene, I hope I didn't convey too much a narrowed point of view during it but I had much my own focus on Kira unknowingly fighting his old friend and gradually beginning the shift from late-SEED into the early-Destiny timeline.

On that note, truthfully, how many of you were expecting it be Sai or one of the others? I bet I caught a fair number of you by surprise when I finally revealed who he was! That's right! Tolle had managed to survive the destruction of the Skygrasper he'd been flying in Gundam SEED! I'm not going to go into too much detail at this point, I'd rather save that for a later date and chapter (who knows, maybe it'll be the next one).

There's something else I noticed in most of your earlier reviews. A good portion of you seemed to guess that I had plans of 'upgrading' the Freedom, even when I was trying so hard to hide that. Am I really that predictable? If so, that's really depressing…Well, whatever the case, I do have some preliminary ideas for what this new Freedom will turn out as but I'm always open to suggestions. If any of you wish to share, feel free (credit goes to those who give me any ideas that I actually like, naturally).


	4. Chaotic Battles, Abysmal Luck

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 4: Chaotic Battles, Abysmal Luck_

**October 2, 73 C.E  
Armory One, 9:40am**

"This is the pilot of the MVF-X24C Fortitude Gundam, Tolle Koenig," he said loudly and clearly into the radio. "I'm taking off to aid in the defense of Armory One."

Ignoring the rapid refusal on the other end, Tolle remotely initiated the catapult's launch system. There was no way he was going to listen to some low-level ZAFT officer telling him to not interfere! Especially not when Athrun had just contacted him through their private communicator and informed him of the situation. New ZAFT Gundams were being stolen? How cliché… What made this apparent theft even more ironic was that this was more or less the exact reason that he, Cagalli, and Athrun had journeyed to the PLANTs to speak with Chairman Durandal in the first place!

Shaking his head clear of unnecessary thoughts as he exited the catapult, he boosted the engines to maximum and flew towards the rising plumes of smoke originating from the military installation. Doing a quick fly-by, he spotted several things immediately. The trio of new Gundams, a bulky green, a streamlined black, and a dual-shielded blue, that were running amok were busy battling against a fourth mobile suit that looked remarkably similar to the old X105 Strike Gundam, except for the red coloring.

Tolle continued to fly around high out of sight, carefully watching the three Gundams battle that fourth. Though he was no legendary ace like Athrun, Kira, or even Commander La Flaga, even he could easily see that the pilot of that red Gundam was newbie. There was a noticeable awkwardness to the suit's movements and the tiniest of hesitations before each attack. That pilot was probably just a kid who'd recently graduated from the Academy, not even having seen what true combat was yet.

"_Tolle! Are you there?!_" Athrun's voice sounded loudly on their radio.

"I'm here," he responded instantly. "Where are you and Cagalli?"

"_Cagalli and I are inside a ZAKU right now_," the Coordinator pilot answered. "_Where are you?_"

"I'm above the battle, gathering surveillance on the enemies," the young man said as he steered his new machine around to once again view the fight below. "Do you want me to join in? I'm not sure that red Gundam can fight all three alone."

"_If you think he needs help, step in immediately!_" Cagalli spoke up suddenly.

"Yes, Madam!" he said with crisp military precision.

No sooner had those words left his mouth than the green and blue Gundams suddenly lunged towards the red defender. Jerking the Fortitude into a sharp descent at the attackers, his weapons locked on instantly but he had started firing even before the proper lock. It turned out to be a good thing he'd shot first, the new Gundams' reaction times were startlingly quick to the target lock.

As the green one dodged to the side, the blue one opened those strange blue shields and unleashed six deadly beams towards him. Quick as lightning, Tolle switched out of armor-mode and into mobile suit mode. As the suit transformed, the armor blurred to a gray color for just a moment. Upon landing somewhat heavily in front of the blue, the once orange and black jetfighter had now become Orb Union's signature orange and white mobile suit color scheme. While the blue one turned to fully confront the new threat, the green one quickly rushed away to help the black one fighting against the red ZAFT Gundam.

Upon seeing yet another new model, the pilot of the blue Gundam froze for just a second, no doubt believing that the Fortitude was another ZAFT Gundam. It was during that second's hesitation that Tolle used to grab one of the two boomerangs stored on the Fortitude's shoulders and threw it towards the enemy as he grabbed a beam saber in the other hand. The blue suit was clearly an artillery unit, so close-range combat was its weakness. All Tolle needed to do was to narrow the gap and he'd be much more likely to win, if he wasn't shot down prior to that.

Knocking the attacking beam weapon aside with one of its shields, the blue Gundam turned its chest towards the charging Orb Gundam and fired its Callidus multi-phase cannon. Jumping to the side, Tolle brought the Fortitude's beam saber slashing forward as the cannon blast missed him by a narrow margin. With his opposite hand, he caught the recoiling boomerang and brought it slashing forward as the blue Gundam blocked the saber with its shield yet again. Using its beam lance's greater reach to its advantage, the blue Gundam was able to deflect the boomerang-armed hand to the side. Then it reversed its lance's direction and moved the beam slashing towards the Fortitude's cockpit. Quickly bouncing backwards, Tolle showered the enemy mobile suit with Vulcan gunfire to cover his momentary retreat.

"_Tolle!_" Athrun called out. "_Cagalli's injured, we're withdrawing! I'm gonna dock with that ship nearby. And **don't** get too carried away!_"

"Pah!" Tolle snorted in amusement. "_Please_ try to trust me for once!"

It was then that the entire area suddenly shook quite violently as sounds of a powerful explosion echoed throughout the PLANT. For just a brief instant, Tolle wasn't a Lieutenant of the Orb military piloting his fourth experimental model in a battle against a Gundam thief. For just a brief instant, he was a tech school student studying computer programming and basic mobile suit operating systems who was suddenly caught up in a surprise attack by ZAFT forces.

If the pilot of the blue Gundam had not been occupied with a conversation with his fellow thieves, Tolle would've easy prey as he attempted to drag himself out of the past. These flashbacks had been happening at odd times ever since the end of the war two years ago, and he was really starting to hate them!

Turning his attention back to the battle at hand, he watched as his opponent and the green mobile suit suddenly took to the sky. So, they were planning on escaping now? That explosion must've been their signal. Well, he certainly wasn't going to let them go without a fight! Gunning his thrusters, he shot up into the air after them. A quick glance at his unit's power supply said that he was well within the acceptable range, easily another ten to fifteen minutes of power

As he was flying after the retreating thieves, he spotted a pair of uniquely colored ZAKU that were quickly closing in on the fleeing suits. The pilots of those ZAKU must be ZAFT Reds, since only Reds and commanders were given the privilege of coloring their units. Good, those two would be a big help! But as soon as that thought had crossed his mind, the engine of the red ZAKU suddenly let out a small explosion before rapidly losing power. _Spoke too soon I guess_.

"_Pilot of the unknown mobile suit, identify yourself!_" a sharp, militaristic voice demanded fiercely over the radio.

"This is Lieutenant Tolle Koenig, escort mobile suit pilot of the Orb Union Chief Representative: Cagalli Yula Athha," Tolle answered quickly in a smart military-formal voice. "I was ordered by the Representative to aid you in the recapture of those machines."

"_Understood_," the unknown pilot said. "_I am Rey Za Burrel of ZAFT_."

Up ahead, the red Gundam was making repeated attempts to attack the black one, but was deftly blocked by the green and blue Gundams each time. The black Gundam in the meantime was shooting its beam weapons into the PLANT's exterior wall in a clearly frantic manner.

"_**Minerva**!_" a new voice called out over the radio. "_Send out the Force Silhouette!_"

"The what?" Tolle couldn't help but ask himself.

Shaking his head, he focused on more important issues, namely rushing the blue Gundam once again with his beam rifle flashing. Easily blocking the simple beam blasts, the blue responded with a full barrage of its own weaponry. Rather than attempt to block all that energy with his simple shield, he changed the Fortitude into its armor mode and hastily evaded the beams.

As he was doing this, he was treated to a full view of the red Gundam exchanging its backpack for a newer one which had arrived by some kind of small transport plane. When the new winged backpack attached to the machine, the red shifted to blue and the resemblance to the old X105 Strike was even more noticeable than before. He couldn't resist a snort at the irony of ZAFT creating its own version of that ever-versatile Gundam.

Swinging back around to attack the thieves again, Tolle watched as the green and blue Gundams unleashed waves of overwhelming energy upon the weakened PLANT exterior in quick succession of one another. The exterior wall was not designed to withstand such power in such a short amount of time. So when a sudden section opened into a 'relatively' tiny hole on the exterior, Tolle wasn't overly surprised.

Seeing the stolen Gundams fly through the new hole without a moment's hesitation, Tolle let out a sharp growl of annoyance and boosted his throttle, flying after them immediately. The Strike-lookalike was only a few seconds behind him, followed by Rey, as he exited the PLANT.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Outside Armory One  
10:04am**

He knew he wasn't going to like it, but he had to know. After that one time almost two years ago, he had been unable to check up on his work, in a sense.

At first it had merely been because Captain Brimfield had requested he not repeat the incident. The reasoning had been that if he kept trying to interfere in such a way, he really would _cause_ the war that he was trying to prevent by erasing their database and designs. Then it was because the next thirteen months had him continuously preoccupied with the reconstruction of the Freedom. And the following eight months were spent calibrating the Freedom's weapons systems, fine tuning the OS, continuously examining the structural integrity, and making the new mobile suit more comfortable for long distance travels.

Once the work on the Neo Freedom, as Akira had taken to calling it, had been completed, Brimfield had finally unveiled the grand surprise of the identity of his new mobile suit. He was giving the Neo Freedom to _Akira?!_ Sure, Akira may have been involved in quite a few skirmishes and saved quite a few of the pirates' lives, but…giving away the Freedom like that just seemed like overkill.

However, Akira finally decided that it was time that he moved on. After politely bidding farewell to his friends and comrades of the _Early Harvest_ pirates, Akira took the Neo Freedom to Earth. His original plan had been to start looking for people who might have known him in his past. He had landed in the wilderness of Western Europe and hid the Neo Freedom after placing a complicated lock on it.

Though he hadn't found what he was looking for, he did come to a very relieving realization. Apparently shortly after the fiasco with his computer virus that had struck both the Alliance and ZAFT, many of the radicals on Earth had calmed themselves. It seemed that due to the simultaneous crashing of both nations' defense and computer networks had caused both to keep in even greater contact with each other, which incidentally created some kind of level of trust between them when they realized they were sharing the same problems. Now, no longer were they screaming for the deaths of all space monsters and abominations of nature. Instead, they seemed somewhat content to let the past be and just live their lives peacefully. This change of opinion had lifted an almost unbearable weight off Akira's shoulders, a weight he didn't even know he was carrying.

After that trip, he began a series of travels and explorations throughout the world. He would fly his Neo Freedom, under the stealth of Mirage Colloid, from one country to the next and explore the countryside and cities by foot. This near constant travel of his gave him a very broad scope of just how…content the world was, despite the rather fragile truce that had been holding it together. Europe, the Middle East, a fair amount of Asia, and the island nations of the Pacific could all be considered 'moderates' now. The Americas, Africa, and the Eurasian government were still as biased and aggressive as ever though. Still it was as close to paradise for the young Coordinator as he could hope to find since it didn't seem likely that war would break out anytime soon.

Then reality came and slapped him hard in the face, just as he was planning on finally visiting the Orb Union. He had been coincidentally passing by a military installation on his way back to the Neo Freedom after a long tour of a city on Hawaii. With his rather sharp hearing, he was able to overhear some military commanders, most likely Generals, discussing some rumors of ZAFT developing new mobile suits and Gundams. Though the men had merely made a passing comment on a seemingly irrelevant issue, it had been more than enough to cause Akira to realize that he had been living in a fantasy thus far.

He had to know if those rumors were! The Earth Alliance more than likely had continued developing new Gundams as well, but they could wait. Infiltrating top-secret Natural installations was a walk in the park compared to ZAFT installations.

That was why he was now flying towards Armory One, Mirage Colloid deployed to mask his presence from everyone. Mirage Colloid was one of the more useful new features that he and Professor K had given to the Neo Freedom. The secret with the colloid was that it only lasted a certain amount of time depending on the amount of power that the battery supplying it could maintain the output necessary to keep the mirage particles covering the suit's armor active. That was why the colloid was more dependably used in warships than mobile suits. With the Neo Freedom's fission reactor, Akira could keep the colloid up for almost as long as he wanted, so long as he wasn't engaged in a battle.

Speaking of a battle, the Neo Freedom's sensors were picking up multiple heat sources coming from near the outer shell of Armory One. What was happening over there?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

It was only thanks to the improved sensors that Erica Simmons had thankfully installed into the Fortitude that Tolle was able to locate the retreating Gundams. They were flying on minimal power to best avoid detection. He couldn't help but grin slightly at that. Flying on minimal power meant that he could catch up to them in next to no time, maybe even being able to disable one of them before they could react! Turning his machine in their direction, he went flying after them. For whatever reason, neither the Strike-lookalike Gundam nor Rey followed him.

He was nearly upon them when his sensors detected what they were flying towards. No sooner had he realized that the signal was from a warship than an alert rang out. A target lock! Hastily swerving to the side, Tolle saw a pair of beams shooting past where his former position from behind him. What he saw was a pair of black Strike Daggers wearing some kind of dual heavy-cannon over their shoulders.

Transforming back into a mobile suit, Tolle yelled out over the radio, "Attacking from behind?! Now that was just dishonorable!" To accent his point, he fired a pair of shots at the closer of the two and was rewarded in seeing it explode spectacularly.

As he was moving to aim at the second, the alarm sounded again. This time, he could almost sense the direction in which the attack was coming: the warship. It was, after all, the most likely attacker since the stolen Gundams had probably boarded by now. Deftly dodging to the side, he showered the attacking missiles with his Vulcan cannons, causing a fair portion to explode which destroyed the rest.

The beating alarm sounded again and Tolle reflexively put his Gundam into a sharp ascent. His rapid climb saved him from the remaining black Strike Dagger's attack. Yelling out in anger at yet another dishonorable attack, Tolle snatched out one of his beam sabers at hurled it with pinpoint accuracy into the Dagger's cockpit. With more missiles beginning to rain down upon him, he danced out of their way as he headed over to the unexploded wreck that still held his beam saber. Upon retrieving the weapon, he bodily threw the immobile suit into the missile barrage.

Transforming into his mobile armor for greater speed, he flew off to the side, circled around, and then took a near-suicidal charge at the ship's broadside. Dodging the Igelstellung cannons became steadily more difficult the closer he got until he forced to change back into a mobile suit so he could use the shield more effectively. However, not even with the shield's help was he able to protect himself from all the attacks. No less than four Igelstellungs struck the Fortitude in various places, as well as a missile hitting the shield very heavily, before he was finally too close for the cannons to be of much effect. It was with a broad smile of triumph that he landed upon the warship's starboard Gottfried beam cannon turret and plunged both his beam sabers into it, melting the armor and energy casings inside almost simultaneously. Hastily jumping to the turret on the portside, he repeated the process as the cannon he'd just abandoned exploded, violently rocking the ship.

Shifting back into his mobile armor, he quickly flew away to think up a new attack strategy. However an all-too-familiar beeping informed him of the one thing he'd been hoping wouldn't happen. The Fortitude was dangerously low on power, scarcely enough to maintain the VPS armor for more than a few more minutes!

"Dammit!" he yelled, quickly retreating to a much safer distance.

In doing so, he was able to see three signal flares suddenly light up the space some distance ahead of him. Focusing his camera in the direction of the return flares, he saw that it was ZAFT's new warship, the _Minerva_. Athrun said that he and Cagalli would be boarding the ship, right? Are they still there?

"This is Lieutenant Tolle Koenig of the Orb Union," he called over the radio as he flew the Fortitude over towards the warship. "_Minerva_, do you copy?"

"_This is Captain Gladys speaking_," a female voice said after a moment. "_What do you need, Lieutenant?_"

"My Gundam is damaged and nearly out of power," he said, trying to speak as clearly as he could. "If at all possible, I request permission to land and recharge my machine. Also, my comrade informed me earlier that he and the Orb Chief Representative would be boarding your ship. I wish to verify that they are still aboard."

There was a long moment of silence. He could easily guess that this Captain Gladys was hastily trying to confirm his statement of Cagalli and Athrun being aboard her ship, as well as trying to decide if she should allow him permission. Finally, after what seemed an eternity to him, she replied, "_Permission granted. You may proceed to the starboard hangar bay. And please hurry, we must pursue that warship with all due haste_."

"I copy," he answered, relief coloring his voice. "Starboard hangar bay, on the double!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

_**Minerva  
**_** 10:30am**

"Athha of Orb?" Shinn Asuka asked in a strictly neutral voice as he and Lunamaria floated up to her ZAKU's cockpit.

"Yeah!" the short-haired redhead answered quickly, rather enthusiastically. "I was totally surprised as well. What are the odds of meeting a big war hero all the way out here?"

As the girl was finishing her sentence, she noticed her companion's gaze turning over towards the new Orb Gundam. "What is it, Shinn?"

"Nothing," he said, his voice thick with suppressed emotion. After a moment though, he asked, "What's up with that ZAKU over there? It wasn't assigned to the _Minerva_. Do you know who the pilot was?"

"Believe it or not, it was her bodyguard," Luna said, glancing over at the green machine that was missing an arm and its shield. Smiling ever so slightly in an almost knowing manner, she leaned forward as though to whisper a piece of confidential information. "He said his name was Alex…but it might be Athrun! Athrun Zala."

That statement drew a slight gasp of surprise from Shinn. Despite how much he now despised Orb and all it stood for, even he would acknowledge that its most famed resident, Athrun Zala, was one of the best mobile suit pilots ever to have lived. If he were honest with himself, he would've liked to have had a chance to have met the guy. "Athrun…Zala."

"What do you mean you can't fix my Gundam?!" a loud voice suddenly yelled out in anger from the other side of the hangar, earning curious glances from everyone in the hangar. Lunamaria and Shinn both shared a silent glance before pushing themselves in the direction of the voice's owner. "The Fortitude is, for all intents and purposes, just like another run-of-the-mill Murasame with a few new little toys! In fact, it's structurally identical to the GINN! How the hell can't you be able to fix it?!"

"Listen, Lieutenant," Madd Aves, the mechanics team leader grunted out in a strained voice. "While you may be right about the structural similarities, neither my crew nor I have trained on Murasame mobile suits before. And we don't carry any of the basic parts necessary to do even precautionary maintenance on a machine built for a Natural like you."

The pilot, a brown-haired young man with several ugly scars running from his cheek and down his neck, abruptly shut his mouth as the mechanic's words sank in. It was common knowledge that a lot of the components needed for Naturals to pilot mobile suits were drastically different than those of Coordinators. The ion pumps for Coordinators alone were easily three times larger than those used in Natural-oriented suits since they could handle more power more easily, while Naturals compensated with using ion pumps that were trimmer but in greater quantities. The overall outcome of these two different systems was a different kind of mobile suit each that had roughly the same performance capabilities.

"Dammit!" the scarred Lieutenant growled, slamming his hand into his mobile suit's armor in his frustration. Turning back to the mechanic, he said, "Do you at least have a spare toolset I could borrow?"

Nodding, Aves pushed himself away to hurriedly find the toolset so as not to set off the Lieutenant again.

"And just who are you?" Shinn demanded with a fierce glare in his eye as he spotted the Orb insignia on the pilot's sleeve. "And what's an _Orb_ pilot doing onboard the _Minerva_?"

Neither the pilot nor Lunamaria could miss how Shinn spat the nation's name, as though it had left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. Returning the boy's glare full force, he answered nonetheless, "I am Lieutenant Tolle Koenig, the escort mobile suit pilot of the Chief Representative of Orb. And just who are you?"

Lunamaria couldn't help but gasp slightly. She recognized this scarred pilot's name quite quickly. After all, he was one of the 'lesser' key members of the Three Ships Alliance during the Bloody Valentine War. It was said that he'd first piloted a mobile suit in the defense of Orb against the Earth Forces and had played a significant role in the three-way battle at the Mendel Colony as well. While not nearly as good of a pilot as Kira Yamato or Athrun Zala, Lunamaria had little doubt that he could fly circles around even Shinn.

"Tolle Koenig, eh?" Shinn repeated almost snidely. "That's funny, I heard that he had gotten killed during a battle with ZAFT. So how do you claim to be him when he's clearly dead?"

"Funny thing about rumors," Tolle remarked, his face a careful void of emotion or reaction. "They are only _based_ on facts…I was able to turn my jetfighter just enough to the side that I wasn't killed outright. Instead I got these 'little beauties' as souvenirs." He said the last statement while lightly tapping the red scars on his neck. "And now, _again_, just who are you?"

"Shinn Asuka," the boy said. "And I suppose you were privileged to land here because your precious _Athha_ was aboard as well."

"Damn, you catch on fast," Tolle observed in a painfully obvious ridiculing tone. "You probably think you're hot stuff, don't you?"

"Well, they didn't assign him the pilot of the Impulse for being a slouch," Lunamaria said, frowning slightly at the ace's bad attitude. Though she could kind of understand his frustration; his mobile suit was damaged and despite being on a ship with a crew who should be able to repair it, they couldn't. Yes, he definitely had a valid reason for being upset.

"The Impulse?" Tolle asked, glancing over at her. For just a second, his hard gaze softened as he looked at her. But then he blinked and that razor sharp edge was back again. "Is that the name of that Strike-lookalike Gundam I saw earlier?"

"Strike-lookalike?!" Shinn snapped, quite offended. "Where do you get the right to compare the Impulse to that _antique?!_"

"Well, considering I was there when it was considered 'state-of-the-art' and had my best friend piloting it continuously to save us from the Le Creuset Team, I think I'm more than privileged," Tolle answered, a grin pulling at one side of his face as he watched the younger pilot start to get a wild look in his eye. "So, the Impulse is the name of that Gundam? With you as its pilot, I guess it was _aptly_ named indeed."

"And just what is _that_ suppose to mean?!" Shinn demanded angrily, his voice escalating in volume.

"That you're reckless, impulsive, and, judging from this little conversation, quite easy to anger," Tolle said, suddenly seeming like the mature adult that he was as his eyes took on an almost pitying gaze.

Lunamaria couldn't help but blink at the abrupt one-eighty that seemed to have come over the veteran pilot. What was he doing now? Some kind of test for Shinn? Or was that earlier conversation the test?

"What gives you the right to judge me?!" Shinn demanded, practically yelling now as his hands started trembling, yearning to grab hold of Tolle's neck to strangle him.

"Tell me, Shinn," Tolle said. "What happened to you when we chased after those thieves through the hole?"

"They got away," Shinn said simply. "Then me and Rey got ambushed by a mobile armor. What's it to you? Show me some respect!"

"So, in other words," Tolle said, shaking his head slightly as he let out a small sigh. "you had to fight a single mobile armor with Rey until it was forced to retreat when its mothership fell under attack."

"How did you know?" Luna asked blinking.

"Because I was the one who was doing the attack," Tolle said, turning to face Aves as he finally returned with a bulky container. "I was able to locate the mothership, destroy two of its mobile suits, and then damage two of its primary weapon turrets before I was forced to retreat due to low power."

Glancing at Shinn, he asked, "First, gain the self-discipline and foresight to avoid battles that you shouldn't even start, and then I will _consider_ respecting you." Rather than wait for a reply, the young Lieutenant took a hold of the toolbox and pushed himself towards his mobile suit's torso.

With a growl of anger, Shinn decided to leave and pushed himself towards the doorway to leave. Losing interest and her ZAKU's maintenance forced Lunamaria to go bouncing towards her suit to help speed its repairs along. But as she was settling into the cockpit, she couldn't help but sigh in slight resignation. Lieutenant Koenig was…a _very_ strange guy. That much was certain!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Approaching the Debris Belt  
2:06pm**

Akira found himself anchored to the hull of ZAFT's newest warship, the _Minerva_, only a few hours later. He hadn't had a chance to sneak into the PLANT like he'd originally intended, instead he had merely observed the battle of between the ZAKU, ZGMF-X56S Impulse, and that Earth Alliance mobile armor. By intercepting transmissions, he had learned that the Alliance had somehow stolen three of the new ZAFT experimental Gundams and were attempting to make their getaway.

This discovery had angered him greatly. Two years ago, Akira had made a pledge to himself that he'd do everything in his power to prevent another war or senseless battles. His first act on that pledge had been that virus he'd planted. And now the Earth and its people were well on their way to forgiving the sins and mistakes made in the past. However, with the theft of those Gundams whose preliminary designs he'd tried to destroy, the probability of another war starting had just sky-rocketed. Thus he came to an immediate decision; he would personally destroy those Gundams before any remaining radicals could start crying for war again.

While the Neo Freedom had far greater engines due to several redesigned components and more efficient usage of power, not even it could maintain the same high velocity as a warship for extended periods. After anchoring himself directly to the stern of the _Minerva_'s bridge, he dropped the Mirage Colloid and deactivated all non-vital functions to minimize the possibility of detection, despite hiding in the warship's shadow. So now he was passing the time with attempting to hack his way into the warship's computer network. To his surprise, he was having a great deal of difficulty hacking the ship's supercomputer.

"It would seem that ZAFT has learned from what happened two years ago," he grumbled to himself as he was again denied access.

Sighing in defeat, he reluctantly shutdown his terminal and idly stretched his stiff body. No matter how comfortable the cockpit with its various (small) luxuries, a mobile suit cockpit was still a very confined space and not designed or built for long-distance or time-consuming travels. Feeling bored, he opened the files containing the brief skirmish he'd witnessed the Impulse in. Even if he still possessed the original designs, there was nothing to prevent the final product from having differences to what the plans suggested.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

"Captain, I've lost the signal," said Bart Heim, the _Minerva_'s sensor and secondary systems operator.

"Were you able to track it to its source?" Captain Talia Gladys asked, glanced towards her subordinate.

"No madam," Bart answered with clear anger in his voice. "Whatever broadcasting frequency the signal was using, the _Minerva_'s supercomputer was unable to accurately pinpoint its location."

Growling quietly in annoyance, Gladys resisted the urge to hit her chair in her frustration; she had a position and reputation to uphold after all. The _Minerva_ had detected that invading signal for nearly two and a half hours. Normally it would've been considered child's play for the supercomputer to isolate and pinpoint a hacker before retaliating in kind to the invasion. But for this particular incident, it just couldn't seem to get a proper fix for any significant degree of time. Clearly this hacker was a truly gifted computer specialist and quite determined to find something, if the extremely long attempted cyber break-in was anything to go by. If it weren't for the obvious skill of this hacker as well as the great distance between them, Gladys would've been inclined to believe that the hacker was aboard the ship currently called _Bogey One_. Frankly, she had no idea of just who they were dealing with or what this person's intentions were.

"Did you at least pinpoint what it was that it was after?" she asked after a moment.

"Not entirely, Captain," Bart said, looking back towards her. "The signal kept bouncing from one file group to the next at rather random intervals. However, it did pay quite a bit of attention to the files containing the technical data on the Impulse and the other stolen Gundams that we had in record."

"Yes, I see," was all she said. That didn't really tell her anything that she wasn't really expecting. If this hacker was indeed in league with those thieves, of course it would be quite interested in the Impulse's data and combat potential.

"Madam!" Bart said suddenly as his terminal posted an alert. "We've caught _Bogey One!_ It's at Orange 55, Mark 90, Alpha, distance 8,000!"

Putting the mystery of the hacker on the backburner, Gladys instantly jumped back into her role as the captain of a warship.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Debris Belt  
2:49pm**

Athrun just didn't like the feeling that he was getting. He'd been having some pretty bad feelings ever since Cagalli and he had arrived at Armory One. As it turned out, his war-sharpened instincts had been quite correct as the unthinkable happened right in front of them. Then he had to commandeer a ZAKU in order to not only protect Cagalli, but he had to take them aboard the nearby warship since it was arguably the safest place available. And now they were trapped aboard for the duration of the chase after thieves with ZAFT Supreme Chairman Gilbert Durandal and his silky tongue.

But what made their stay on the ship all the more unbearable was that he continuously found himself falling back into old, military-training ingrained habits. Habits like returning salutes to fellow soldiers and crewmen, attempting to mesmerize his way through the ship so that he'd navigate through it more efficiently, critically examining the postures of the soldiers and equipment. Despite the war being officially over for almost two years, he found himself growing almost…homesick was the only word that he could use that even vaguely explained what he was feeling.

But he had sworn to never pilot a mobile suit or Gundam again, and to never have to take another man or woman's life away again. A lot of things had changed for Athrun after the war ended and Kira disappeared without a trace. Athrun, who'd already experienced the pain of losing his friend when he believed he had killed Kira earlier, had been more 'prepared' to deal with the grief than the others, especially Cagalli and Lacus. So he had stuck close to the blonde who'd somehow stolen his heart, he helped her come to terms with Kira's likely death just as she had for him earlier. Then, after settling things in the PLANTs, he had permanently moved to Orb to live with Cagalli and Lacus to serve as Cagalli's aide. Athrun was strictly a professional whenever he had to go anywhere in public with Cagalli, attempting to live up to his new alias as Alex Dino.

And then the raid on Armory One occurred and he was again forced into the cockpit of a mobile suit. Though he dearly wished to deny it, the brief time back inside that death machine had been an exhilarating experience for him. It had felt as though he had returned home after a long time living aboard, being surrounded by the familiar environment of a mobile suit cockpit. Why was that?!

Athrun was no real expert when it came to politics, but he knew the basic scenario of putting up good appearances and offering kind words when they were necessary. That was the type of work had he continuously found himself dealing with since he took up the job of being Cagalli's aide. But why was he now finding himself once again thinking like a soldier, preparing to take command of a mobile suit squadron or even the ship itself? And presently sitting in a chair upon the very bridge of that warship wasn't helping his mentality in the least bit!

Why wasn't the enemy ship altering course or launching mobile suits to counter the four that were currently bearing down on them? The ship most assuredly had detected them at near the same time that they had detected it. But it wasn't changing course, inside the Debris Belt, even with enemy mobile suits rapidly approaching…That could only mean!

"A decoy!" he said loudly at the same time that Captain Gladys let out a cry of anger, having come to the same conclusion at the same time.

It was about that time that the ambush was sprung with the three stolen Gundams ruthlessly attacking _Minerva_'s rookie pilots. And then the lead player of the ambush made its appearance..._behind _them!

With a pair of mobile suits that had been accompanying the ship closing in on the _Minerva_ from one side and the enemy vessel attacking from the rear, that left only one real option for the _Minerva_ to take. During the ensuing run around the asteroid in a feeble attempt to shake off the pursuers, Athrun remained utterly silent, his gaze fixed ahead with a focused glare that he'd not truly worn for over a year. He wanted to get there and fight, he knew he could make a difference. But he couldn't anymore. He'd made a pledge to give up fighting and that was a pledge he wasn't about to break just yet.

However the debris provided adequate shielding for the enemy mobile suits, which allowed them to further terrorize the _Minerva_. It was a frustrating situation for everyone onboard, especially since they were unable to properly counterattack.

"Half of our firepower is wasted like this!" Gladys snapped with her own frustration clear in her voice.

Just as those words had left her mouth, a pair of bright explosions lit up the space where the enemy suits were located. For just a second, everyone stared in slight surprise. What just happened?

"What happened?!" Gladys yelled quickly.

"Enemy mobile suits have been destroyed!" Bart reported, sounding genuinely bewildered.

"But it wasn't from us!" Chen Jian Yan, the fire control officer, said in a confused voice.

"Then who?!"

"I don't know, Captain! I'm not picking anything up on radar!"

"Never mind," Gladys said. "Malik, get us clear of this asteroid immediately!"

"Yes, Captain!" Malik confirmed, already attempting to find a clear path.

"Captain, we've got missiles incoming!"

"Intercept them!"

"But they're not…"

Athrun, in an instant, realized just what was happening. The only reason that they wouldn't be aiming for the _Minerva_ was because they'd acquired another…better target. "Move it!" he yelled, jumping into his old battle-hardened mindset yet again. "Get the ship away from the asteroid!"

In the moment it took Gladys to look back at him in surprise, a string of near-instantaneous explosions occurred behind them.

"Captain, I'm detecting an unknown…a mobile armor!" Bart called out a second later. "Directly behind us!"

"A mobile armor?!" several people asked at once, all turning to glance at Bart for clarification.

"What? Where did it come from?!" Gladys demanded. Even as she made that demand, another string of explosions lit up the debris field behind them. Snatching up her inter-ship communicator, her connected to the mobile suit hangar and said, "Aves, send Rey out!"

"Madam, the catapult isn't completely clear for the moment," the lead mechanic answered as he watched the pilot already jumping into his white ZAKU.

"Walk him out if you have to!" she ordered. "We've got an unknown out there that I'm not inclined to trust just yet!" Turning her attention back to the bridge, she called, "Malik! Get us clear!"

"I'm doing that now, Madam!"

"Doesn't this ship have any more available mobile suits to deploy?" Durandal asked quietly.

"Yes sir, but we don't have the pilots to use them," Gladys answered, earning a small gasp from Athrun as he had to quickly bite his tongue to prevent himself from offering to pilot one. This was noticed by both Cagalli and Durandal.

"Where's the Impulse and ZAKU?" Gladys demanded from Meyrin.

"They're still engaging the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss!" the CIC replied quickly.

"Captain!" Bart called out. "An enemy mobile armor is approaching the unknown!"

"Launch CIWS and Dispar interceptor missiles at the mobile armors," Gladys called out.

"No, don't!" Athrun snapped out in a commanding voice. "That unknown armor was just offering covering fire! Otherwise we'd be buried in a mountain in rocks! Send support to the armor!"

"But we have no idea of the pilot's intentions or how we only now were able to detect it!" Arthur Trine, the second-in-command, pointed out.

"The pilot's actions thus far have indicated that he's intending to help us survive this mess," Athrun countered immediately, pointedly ignoring Cagalli's questioning stare. "Our immediate need is for his cooperation in distracting the enemy until we're able to properly retaliate!"

"You do have a point," Gladys commented quietly, as if in resignation. Turning to Meyrin, she said, "Contact the unknown armor to clarify its intentions!"

"Yes, madam!" Meyrin replied before suddenly saying. "Rey has launched, Captain!"

As the _Minerva_'s bow finally pulled free of the asteroid and was turning to face the approaching enemy ship, they could vaguely see the engine-emissions of the combating armors.

"Captain, we've got a visual of the unknown armor!" Bart stated.

"Put it on screen!" Gladys ordered immediately.

The image that they saw was among one of the more bizarre they'd ever encountered. The mobile armor had a very broad and bulky main body, eight segmented wings, a pair of bulky engines under the stern, and a pair of beam cannons protruding from the fuselage sections. The overall color scheme of the machine was white and an almost-faded orange. However there was no doubt in the minds of anyone seeing that image that this unknown armor was most likely a transformable mobile suit.

"Well," Chairman Durandal said. "This is an unexpected development."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

"_You're pretty good in that machine_," a confident voice said over the radio. "_It's such a shame that I must destroy you now_."

"You can try," Akira answered, the filter on his helmet concealing his true voice.

Yanking the Neo Freedom's controls, he nimbly danced his current-mobile armor between the deadly beams of his opponent's gunbarrels with an agility that was almost unnatural. For the thousandth time since this fight had started, Akira was quite thankful of his insight to adding additional maneuvering thrusters to the wings for this exact reason! Without them, he most assuredly would have been crippled in space by now. The pilot of that Exus armor was superb!

Akira was so focused on swerving between the gunbarrels that he ignored the inquiring message from the _Minerva_ as it launched a spray of missiles and CIWS fire towards the Exus. With exceptional skill, both pilots were able to evade the missiles before resuming their death dance.

"_Tell me, pilot_," the same voice asked. "_To what do you hope to accomplish by aiding that ship?_"

"My reasons are my business," Akira said before flipping the Neo Freedom through a complete 180 and reversed his flight path thanks to those extra thrusters, narrowly avoiding a piece of asteroid debris in the process. Immediately locking onto a target, he fired the Kaefer Zwei beam cannons and was rewarded with a resulting explosion of one of gunbarrel pods.

"_That was impressive_," the Exus pilot commented idly, already reacting to avoid being hit. But before he could attack the unknown armor in turn, a sixth sense warned him to dodge. Only a split second later a white ZAKU appeared, its beam rifle firing at the Exus without remorse. In a display of astounding accuracy, the ZAKU pilot had been able to hit one of the ever-moving gunbarrels and destroyed it. "So, the White Baldy finally comes out to play as well."

At that moment, the _Minerva_ blasted its Tannhauser positron cannon at the enemy ship. The Alliance ship was just barely able to avoid a direct hit, but the massive cannon blast still had a glancing blow with the ship's starboard side. Upon seeing the two warships fly past one another, a mutual agreement went between the two combating pilots: it was time to leave now that the _Minerva_ was able to properly fight back.

While the Exus recalled its remaining two gunbarrels, Akira activated the Neo Freedom's Mirage Colloid and went flying back towards the _Minerva_ for another piggyback ride out of the area. Now that the Alliance ship knew of his presence, they (and the _Minerva_) would undoubtedly be on their guard for him, even if he could sneak up on them using the Mirage Colloid. Besides, he was a little tired after that fight with the Exus. Mobile suit combat was his strength, not mobile armor.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**_Minerva, _Debris Belt  
3:21pm**

Athrun stood to one side of the _Minerva_'s lounge by himself, his eyes glued to the monitor hanging from the wall that was showing the unknown mobile armor that had appeared out of nowhere. His hand was dancing across the screen as he froze sections of the video clippings and dragging them off the side for later examination.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but he could've sworn that he knew that armor from somewhere. It had such distinctive features, namely those strange wings. Features that he knew he knew quite well from somewhere, but the exact memory of kept slipping out of his grasp.

He was so entranced in his work that he didn't notice the quartet of rookies enter the room behind him and freeze upon seeing him. Athrun was in the process of reviewing the strange armor's seemingly-impossible reversal that allowed it to destroy one of the gunbarrels when a loud voice finally penetrated his concentration.

"Well, well," a vaguely familiar feminine voice said behind him. "We were just talking about you, Athrun Zala. And, presto, here you are!"

"My name is Alex Dino," he said distractedly as he froze the image and dragged it aside as well.

"Really?" the redhead drawled in an almost playful manner. "Then I suppose I'm just imagining a civilian trying to analyze the abilities of that strange mobile armor that I've been hearing so much about?"

A loud snort of disgust sounded from the other side of the room, earning a brief glance from Athrun to see that it was that same angry ZAFT red from earlier. "Who cares about somebody from _Orb?_ They don't understand crap!" Without a second glance, he left the room.

Athrun paid the angry boy no further attention as he returned his mind to his project at hand. Quite curious, the two Hawke sisters walked forward to peek over his shoulder to see the various images he was busying studying.

"Wow, it's even weirder looking than I thought it would be," Lunamaria commented dryly. "I wonder what kind of idiot would design a mobile armor like that."

"That's no mobile armor," Athrun corrected, only half his mind on the conversation. "See the way the engines here are located in two entirely separate sections here? And you can see arms tucked under that top section here, which also obscures a head piece. Plus, that top section is clearly a shield. That is a mobile suit."

Blinking slightly, Lunamaria quickly double-checked the places that he'd mentioned and she quickly realized that he was indeed correct. That _was_ a mobile suit!

"Is it true that it suddenly just _disappeared_ after the battle?" she asked, glancing over at the focused young man. She silently admitted to herself that he was indeed a very handsome guy, regardless of what he said his name was. She was honestly jealous of Representative Athha to have him as her aide.

"Yes," Athrun answered instantly. "It seems to be able to employ the Mirage Colloid, and quite efficiently as well."

"I wonder if I'll be able to see it up close," Lunamaria commented to herself as she turned to leave, she could clearly hear the shower calling her name.

"If you're lucky, you won't," Athrun said, his gaze not leaving the monitor. "If this is the level of combat potential that pilot can handle while flying that machine in that configuration, then you can rest assured he's a hundred times better when he's using it as a mobile suit."

"I guess we'll see," Lunamaria said before leaving the lounge, Meyrin hot on her heels.

* * *

**(Auhtor's Note)** I dont' have much to say this. Just that I hope you all enjoy this chapter! That and that I've created a poll on my homepage where you can place your votes on what new types of armaments that the Neo Freedom could have. Please note that the only features that I have completed decided on are its transforming into a mobile armor, enhanced maneuverability, and Mirage Colloid.

One last note before I end this chapter is this; a brief explanation to Tolle's seeming change in personality earlier in the chapter. It is rather simple when you think about it. As **FictionReader98** has reminded me, Tolle is known to get rather annoyed and talk down to people (like how he acted when they all boarded the Archangel in SEED and the guards pointed their guns at them for Kira being a Coorindator. Not many people wouldn't stand down at gun point like that). Also, this is two years later, and given all that Tolle was gone through - surviving a near death experience and continued fighting in the war - I daresay Tolle should be developed a little differently from what he was in SEED.

**MVF-****X24C Fortitude Gundam  
**Power plant:  
Ultra-compact energy battery  
Equipment and design features:  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor; orange/white as a mobile suit and orange/black as a mobile armor (experimental model)  
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system (experimental model)  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x M2M5D 12.5mm CIWS, fire-lined, mounted in head  
2 x RQM60F "Flash-Edge 2" beam boomerang, mounted on shoulders  
2 x Type 70R Kai beam saber, stored on hips  
1 x shield, mounted on left arm in mobile suit mode  
1 x Type 72 Kai "Ikazuchi" beam rifle  
4 x Type 66A air-to-air "Hayate" missile launchers  
4 x M2M5D 12.5mm CIWS, mounted on wings, operable only in mobile armor form  
1 x Type 72D high-energy beam cannon, mounted on back, operable only in mobile armor form


	5. A True Hero

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 5: A True Hero_

**October 3, 73 C.E.  
**_**Minerva**_**, 10:21am**

When a crew is trapped aboard a vessel with minimal communication with the outside world, it is only natural for a rumor-mill to develop. Everyone will eventually know anything of any significance or interest that happens to the others while aboard. So when the crew of the _Minerva_ learned that the remains of Junius 7 had suddenly started moving by unknown means, courtesy of Meyrin Hawke, it took no less than ten minutes for the entire crew to know of the impending collision with Earth.

The trio of ZAFT Red pilots, the young mechanics Vino Dupre and Yolant Kent, and Meyrin Hawke were all gathered in the _Minerva_'s lounge for the break in their shifts, discussing that very topic, as was the rest of the ship.

For lack of anything better to do, Tolle was standing outside the lounge, leaning lazily against the wall. He _really_ wished he could somehow repair the Fortitude now. If only the _Minerva_ had the proper parts, he'd do it himself! Despite how much he disliked doing any of the nitty-gritty engineering work, it was much more preferable to listening to Cagalli and Durandal play their game of politics (how Athrun put up with it was beyond him). And being gawked at by the crew and rookies like he was some kind of rare species due to his small amount of fame was as unsettling as it was embarrassing. Did they expect him to do some kind of trick or offer some advice that would allow them to gain such status or something? Thankfully at least that Rey guy seemed to be immune that mind frame. Tolle was also reasonably sure that the tall blond knew he was there as well.

That was why he was merely leaning against the wall out in the hall and silently listened to them talk about the impending doom to Earth. It was about the same time that the rookies had finally reached the subject of how to stop the giant memorial from striking Earth when Cagalli and Athrun showed up, no doubt desiring a stiff drink or something. Judging from Cagalli's overly stressed and worried expression, a long night at a bar was just what she needed to relax…Of course, he'd sooner attack the old super-weapon GENESIS with a potato gun than tell her that!

Seeing him standing out in the hall, Athrun and Cagalli nodded in greeting to him. Athrun, despite being even more stressed than Cagalli, couldn't stop the small grin on his face when he saw Tolle. If there was one thing he'd learned about the guy he'd almost killed two years ago, it was that he disliked being the center of attention as much as Kira did. And by the sounds of the people inside, it was those rookies again who seemed so determined to worship the veterans of the Bloody Valentine War.

However, his small grin fell immediately when he and everyone else heard the dark-skinned mechanic start badmouthing the Earth and the impending tragedy, saying that the PLANTs would be better off without the planet. Athrun and Tolle both knew immediately, and without even having to look, to know that Cagalli's stress had just reached critical mass. She was gonna blow!!

And boy did the unstoppable force blow!

As Athrun futilely tried to drag her away, Tolle just leaned even more heavily into the wall with an equally heavy sigh of resignation. There she went again with one of her rants. Honestly, that was one of the only things that Tolle disliked about Kira's twin sister. She could rant like no woman he'd ever heard of before.

Finally, someone countered Cagalli's ranting. And judging from the mocking and poorly disguised disgust, it was that Shinn guy from the hangar. This wasn't going to turn out pretty at all, especially with Cagalli in this type of mood. Thankfully, Athrun wasn't the only one trying to stop the inevitable. However, to stop Shinn at this point was like trying to move the immoveable object.

"Oh, I forgot," the ZAFT Red sneered mockingly yet again. "She's some kind of VIP: the _Princess of Orb_."

"Control yourself, Cagalli!" Athrun said, iron in his voice as he once again held her back. If it weren't for the fact that his strength had been enhanced by genetic-engineering, he wouldn't have been able to restrain the angry blonde. Turning to face the pleased pilot, the legendary ace said, "It seems you have some kind of grudge against Orb. May I ask why? I _thought_ you used to live there."

That caught Tolle by surprise, causing him to turn and watch the confrontation with much more interest.

"If you're looking for some kind of trivial excuse to drag the Representative into an irrelevant fight, I won't stand for it," Athrun finished, the iron in his voice returning.

However, upon hearing that, the Orb-emigrant visibly bristled in anger as his glare intensified. Walking forward as he spoke, he stood before the pair with his hateful glare seeming to make his red eyes glow. "_Trivial?!_ It most certainly isn't trivial! And you're wrong about it being _irrelevant_ too. I lost my entire family because of the Athhas!"

Cagalli, Athrun, and even Tolle were suitably caught off guard by that last statement.

"They believed in the nation," Shinn continued, pushing forward now that he found weakness. "and in your so-called _ideals_. And in the end, they were killed at Onogoro!" Turning his glare solely upon the Representative, the pure hatred in those red eyes was enough to cause the blonde to flinch back in fear and surprise. "That's why I'll never believe a word you say, and I'll never believe in Orb! I'll never believe any of your self-serving lies again!"

Crushing the soda can he was holding in his hand in his anger, Shinn continued his rant relentlessly now that he'd gained some momentum. "When you said you were going to uphold 'justice' did you ever think of how many would die because you insisted on following your values to the end?! "

For a moment, all three war veterans were treated to a flashback of people they'd seen die on the battlefield. People they could've protected, but had been unable to.

Seeing that he'd gotten his point across, Shinn visibly backed down as he finished his rant in much calmer tone of voice. "I wish people who didn't understand stuff, wouldn't talk about things that she thought she did."

He couldn't help it. Honestly, he truly couldn't stop himself. First it started out as a quiet chuckle. Then it escalated into low laughter and he began to mockingly clap his hands. This unexpected response to Shinn's obvious anger drew the attention of everyone in the lounge. Seeing Shinn's hateful glare return full-force only caused Tolle to sneer visibly at the pilot.

"What a _wonderful_ display of pure, raw, unadulterated rage and complete and utter _ignorant stupidity!_" Tolle cheered as he finally entered the room and leaned against the wall next to the doorframe, still lightly clapping his hands.

"And just what's so funny about it?!" Shinn demanded. Oh, he really was starting to hate this guy!!

"I'm sorry," Tolle lied in a condescending tone. "but I just can't help it. You make it sound like you're the noble orphan who should be the king of the world. You insinuate that you could've done a better job than Lord Uzumi. Your hypocrisy is staggering."

"Hypocrisy?!" Shinn demanded, once again bristling in rage. "And what makes you think you know anything about what I had to go through?!"

"Tolle, now's not the time for this," Athrun warned, turning a sharp glare on the Gundam pilot. "We don't need a fight with these guys."

"I never said I knew anything about it," Tolle countered Shinn, easily ignoring Athrun. "What I was merely saying is that you just got done yelling at the _Chief Representative of Orb_ about not talking about things to which she doesn't understand, and yet here you are doing the exact same thing."

"I know exactly what I was talking about!" Shinn countered, clenching his fists so tightly that the can in his hand resembled little more than twisted metal now.

"Oh really?" the older pilot drawled. "And just what would you have done if you had been the leader of Orb at the time?"

"I would've surrendered the stupid country!" Shinn snapped. "At least that way there wouldn't have been a pointless battle in which a lot of innocents would've been killed!"

"And we finally reach the heart of the issue!" Tolle declared in a strangely cheerful voice. "Because you're a victim of that pointless battle, all you can think about is what wouldn't have happened at that point in time if Lord Uzumi had surrendered instead of fought."

"_What the hell does that have to do with anything?!_"

"_Everything_," Tolle snapped, turning a stern glare upon the pilot. The sudden seriousness in the formerly mocking pilot caught everyone but Athrun and Cagalli by surprise. "You're so busy wallowing in your hatred of the 'evil' Uzumi Athha who refused to surrender his 'despicable' nation to the Alliance, which sadly resulted in the deaths of your 'pure and innocent' family. You're so busy _enjoying_ your misery that you haven't stopped to think about what would've _most likely_ happened if Lord Uzumi _had_ submitted to the Alliance."

"You had better have a point to all this!!" Shinn growled dangerously, very close to attacking the older man who dared mock his family.

"You want the point then?" Tolle asked rhetorically. "Fine then. But first here's a question for you. If Lord Uzumi had surrendered and the Alliance took complete control of the Mass Driver and Morgenroete, what would've they done next?"

"They would've continued their war with ZAFT in space!" Shinn snapped, stalking over towards the slouching pilot. "Who cares?!"

"Oh, I see where you're going with this, Lieutenant," a calm voice finally said from behind Shinn, causing the boy to snap around in rage at the person who dared agree with the bastard who was insulting him. The ever-calm gaze of Rey just glanced at him before he continued. "You're trying to make him see the broader picture."

"That's right," Tolle agreed easily, nodding appreciatively towards the blond Coordinator. Since the boy was literally standing in his face by now, Tolle easily met Shinn's gaze as he returned his glare to the Lieutenant. Unfazed in the least, Tolle continued, "The Alliance would've _most certainly_ have begun the extermination of _all_ Coordinators in Orb's borders."

For just a second, Shinn froze as that thought finally penetrated his rage-addled brain. Like Shinn before, Tolle saw an opening and pressed forward relentlessly. "The Alliance had been under the control of Muruta Azrael at the time, remember. Do you really think he would've just left you peace? Especially when it was a known fact that Orb allowed Coordinators to live within its borders? _**NO**__, he wouldn't have!!_" Everyone flinched as Tolle snapped out his last statement with such vehemence that it wasn't relevant that he hadn't even raised his voice in the least.

Turning a cold glare upon Shinn, he finally finished his opinion, "The fact that you'd have preferred to have had Lord Uzumi submit, without even _considering_ the consequences, makes you nothing short of a self-centered _brat_ who can't even think about anyone else but _himself_." With a small sigh and a shake of his head, Tolle murmured out, "I _pity_ your existence, for that is what you're living."

In an instant, Shinn's fist smashed into Tolle's face, knocking the pilot back hard into the wall he was still leaning on. Before he could launch a follow up attack, Athrun snatched Shinn's wrist and dragged him roughly away despite how the boy struggled to free himself. "That is enough, Shinn!"

"_What makes you think I even want your pity?!_" Shinn yelled as he lost all control of himself. "_What makes you think I give a shit about anyone from __**ORB?!**_"

"I think you do care," Tolle answered, gently holding his face as a trail of blood began running out of his nose. Standing up straight again, the Gundam pilot let out a small pained grunt as he realigned his nose into its proper position. "Do you feel any better now that you've hit something?"

Rather than answer, Shinn tried to lunge forward to finish what he'd started. It took Athrun, Yolant, Vino, and even Rey to finally drag the enraged ZAFT Red away and back towards his quarters for a time-out.

"That was _completely_ uncalled for, Lieutenant," Cagalli snapped in anger at her escort pilot as he went in search of some tissues in the lounge. "He had only been voicing his own opinions. What he chooses to believe about my father or Orb is his business, and we do not have the right to impose our beliefs on him!"

"Yes, Representative Athha," Tolle answered easily. "However, you looked like you were ready to cry and his attitude was pissing me off!"

"You're incorrigible," she bemoaned before letting out a growled sigh of annoyance. Shortly afterwards, Cagalli left in search of Athrun. Oh boy, she couldn't wait until she returned home to Orb…if it managed to survive the approaching collision of course.

Chuckling quietly to himself, Lieutenant Tolle continued gently holding his nose as he too left in search of the infirmary.

Both Hawke sisters turned to glance at each other as the drama finally came to an end. In as quiet a voice as possible, Meyrin said, "I hope the rest of our time on the _Minerva_ isn't going to be like this."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 4, 73 C.E.  
**_**Minerva**_**, 11:39am**

For the rest of the evening, on through the night, and well into the morning, the hangar of the _Minerva_ was a place of great bustling activity and heightening stress. With the impending disaster and subsequent operation to avert it at all costs, the rookie engineers and pilots alike were in a state of near-constant nervous breakdown. There was a great deal of irritated yelling, cussing, and not-so-subtle grumbling between the junior assistants and their commanding officers.

"I've told you this three times already, Dupre!" Aves growled angrily, pulling at threads as his flailed patience and self-restraint were being yet again yanked savagely tight. "You _do __**not**_ give the ion pumps an extra quarter tightening! That'll only increase the likelihood of the seal linings to rupture while under pressure during operation by an additional nineteen percent! If that happens, all you've got out there is an _**immobile**__ hunk of __**junk!**_ _Now do it right __**this time!!**_"

"Yes sir," Vino managed to utter through clenched teeth in a barely respectable tone. Once Aves had his back turned and launched himself back towards the repairs being done on Lunamaria's ZAKU Warrior, the young mechanic cadet let out low growl and flicked the bird off at his senior supervisor.

"Tut tut," a playful voice said from somewhere nearby. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, unless you _wanna_ kiss that next promotion goodbye for the next three years."

Glancing over towards the voice, the two-tone-haired mechanic just scowled deeper as he spotted the Orb Gundam pilot from his perch on the back of his current mobile armor. The older boy had a laptop computer in one hand and a wrench in other, sitting next to an open panel near the Fortitude Gundam's port wing.

"What does it matter to you, Lieutenant?" Vino demanded as he turned back to his task at hand. "You're from Orb, after all. And you've got your own mobile suit to worry about."

"I care _because_ I'm from Orb, as you've just pointed out," Tolle answered grimly, not looking up from his laptop. "I care because my _Gundam_ is currently inoperable, so I'll be _depending_ on Miss ZAFT Red, the Impulsive Grump, and the White Baldy to handle the situation alone. And with the Impulsive Grump's current attitude towards my home, I'm even more worried than I should be. So please do everyone a favor and do what your boss just said: do it right this time, okay?"

For just a brief moment, in a fit of stressed anger over hearing that _same phrase_ yet again, Vino gave the ion pump he was fiddling with a rather savage twist. Though the act was a badly needed momentary stress-relief for the young mechanic, it also pushed the already-estranged pump past its breaking point. Within little more than an instant, the tube fractured and the pressurized contents burst out, spraying right into Vino's face. Yelping in surprise, the mechanic launched himself away to safety as the entire pump gave loud shattering crash that was heard clearly throughout the entire hangar.

Had the ZAKU that he'd been working on been active, Vino would've found himself in an incomparable amount of pain from the superheated liquids that now coated his face and upper uniform. As it was, thankfully, all he had to worry about was spitting out the foul-tasting fluids and cleaning himself. Too busy wiping his face clean, the boy didn't see where he was drifting until he bumped into a body, knocking both off their present course.

"Sorry!" he called blindly.

"What happened now, Vino?" a familiar feminine voice asked.

"I broke an ion pump…_by accident!_" Vino explained as he finally cleared the fluids from his face. Looking over at where Lunamaria was now drifting, he growled slightly in anger as he called over, "Careful, Luna! That guy's dangerous!" Without another word, he drifted off in search of a nearby sink or shower to clean himself, whichever came first.

Shifting her body expertly, Lunamaria watched with a small frown as the Orb pilot continued with his maintenance work on his Gundam. Sighing loudly to draw his attention as she approached, she stuck out her hand, "A little help, please, Lieutenant?"

Looking up towards the young girl who was steadily approaching, Tolle quickly realized that she wouldn't be within reach to catch herself unless she went all the way to the wall some dozen meters away due to her current angle of travel. "Sure thing, Miss ZAFT Red!"

Dropping his tools and laptop, he scurried across the hull of the Fortitude. Anchoring himself to the starboard stabilizer of the right side engine, he stretched his arm and easily caught the rookie pilot as she came past. Upon pulling her safely aboard, Tolle smiled slightly before hurrying back to his work station.

Staring at the pilot with a noticeably deeper frown, the red-haired Hawke leisurely followed him, momentarily putting her previous task on hold. "You know, for being a great war hero and an ace pilot, you sure like to pick a lot of fights. I'd be willing to bet that just somehow gave Vino a reason to hate you now."

"The kid's just overworked, stressed, and very tired right now," Tolle stated, not looking up from his work. "Give him six hours of sleep, a full stomach, and perhaps some teasing and I'll bet he'll forget all about it. Besides, I really didn't do anything to him."

Not finding an immediate response to his statement, Lunamaria just stared down at him for a few moments. There were a few another questions she wanted to ask him. But if what she suspected was true, then he likely wouldn't answer them.

"Let me guess," the brown-haired Lieutenant said suddenly, surprising her for half a second. "You wanted to ask me about the 'blue-haired-hottie-who-has-such-an-intense-gaze-in-his-eyes-that-you-could-fall-into-them' guy that the Representative has for an aide. Am I right?"

Seeing the small smirk pulling at his lips and the glittering in his laughing eyes as he looked up at her, Lunamaria just scowled as a small blush began to line her cheeks. Even though she would never admit to having such thoughts about the young man, in the deepest parts of her mind where it was safe for Luna to be a squealing, romance-starved, hormonal teenager who didn't have to maintain a tomboy image, she would happily agree that Tolle's description of Athrun's prominent features were spot-on.

"I take it that I'm not the first to ask you questions like this then," she muttered bitterly, forcefully suppressing her annoyance at how quickly she'd been found out.

"Don't worry, happens all the time when Cagalli leaves home," Tolle said, laughter clear in his voice as he once again focused on the laptop in his hand. "Although you're one of the more subtle ones who've I've had to reluctantly break her heart with the news that he's taken, 110 percent. Sorry."

The inner romance-starved teenager of Luna let out a loud scream of pain, despair, and fury as her fears were confirmed. "That's not what I wanted to ask," she snapped tensely as her blush began to slowly deepen.

"His name is _not_ Athrun Zala," Tolle said immediately, speaking in a slight monotone. "Though he does look remarkably similar to the guy, Alex has never actually participated in the Bloody Valentine War because his parents refused to allow him to join the military. Instead, he was enrolled in a technical college and was accepted as Representative Cagalli's aide shortly after the war ended and he graduated at the top of his class. Yes, he does know how to pilot mobile suits because, as the Representative's aide, he must have many diverse skills in accordance to how to best serve her needs and wishes, as well as reacting to an emergency without authorization."

Glancing up at the somewhat stupefied face of the young pilot, Tolle smirked broadly at her. "Was that everything you wanted to know?"

Snapping out the slight daze, Lunamaria just shook her head as she let out a quiet chuckle. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would've bought that load of crap, hook, line and sinker."

"Dammit," Tolle chuckled himself. "I thought I might've been actually convincing this time! I mean, I didn't stutter or choke, laugh, or even grin this time! I guess Miss Clyne's acting lessons and all Cagalli's political lectures on etiquette have been wasted on me…Oh well, never wanted to be a damn politician anyway."

Unable to restrain herself, Lunamaria let out a loud laugh at the pilot's self-damning statements. She continued to laugh for a few moments until she noticed that some the mechanics were looking her strangely. Quickly gaining control of herself, she turned to Tolle and saw his answering smile to her own.

"Actually, there is another question I've been wanting to ask you," she said. Seeing his inquiring raised eyebrow, she continued, "What happened to the Freedom's pilot?"

Jerking slightly from both pain at the sudden unpleasant memories that flooded his mind and the unexpected question, Tolle put too much of his weight upon the wrench he was using. The sudden increase happened at a bad angle, resulting in the tool sliding off the nut he'd been absentmindedly tightening and getting his hand gashed open from it shooting forward. Dropping the wrench with a loud cuss, Tolle immediately vacated his work station for the Fortitude's cockpit where there awaited a first-aid kit.

"Sorry," Luna said, peeking into the slightly foreign cockpit. "Is that a sensitive subject too?"

"Technically, no," the scarred Lieutenant said as he finally found the kit. "But…emotionally, yes…for _all_ of us."

This partially confused Lunamaria. She, like so many others, didn't believe the official report that the Freedom and its pilot, Kira Yamato, had disappeared after the final battle, presumably killed-in-action. Oh no, from the short clippings of battles she seen that the Freedom had been involved in, there was simply no way that a pilot of such caliber could be killed. He must've faked his death so he could avoid what Athrun Zala was now trying to: hero-worship and (most likely) assassination attempts.

"You mean he's…dead?" Luna asked, trying to wrap her mind around such a seemingly impossible concept. "Really dead? He's not just hiding to avoid the public like Athrun?"

"I don't know if he's truly dead or alive really," Tolle muttered quietly, his gaze not wavering from the new bandage on his wrist. "I was there. _I was there!_ I saw him destroy the damn Providence Gundam…after saving _me_…Then GENESIS blew…All that radiation, heat, and light completely fried my Astray's sensors and all others nearby. We have no idea whether he was able to get clear of the blast in time or not. And we spent the next week searching the entire battlefield for him…if he did somehow survive the explosion, then he'd probably died shortly afterwards from lack of oxygen…or unless something else happened."

Looking up slowly, Lunamaria saw the unshed tears pulling at his eyes for a moment. For him, she realized, the pain of losing a dear friend was still very much alive and present. But probably much worse due to the fact that his friend had likely died because he'd been protecting _him_ from death. Then the scarred pilot wiped his eyes and the slightly-bipolar Lieutenant she'd known up to this point had returned, "But hey, if he did manage to survive, he's doing a kickass job of avoiding the media!"

Lunamaria couldn't help but smile weakly at the comment. Then, hit by a sudden desire to fully bring the scarred Lieutenant out of his depression, she put on a slight grin as she asked, "So, any girlfriends back home?"

Tolle shot her a rather peculiar look before his face shifted into a strictly neutral blank. "I did...Let's just say that shit happens, and wars are hell on earth."

"Hey, Luna!" a voice from her ZAKU Warrior called out. "What are you doing? These maneuvering thrusters' outputs won't gauge themselves! Get over here!"

"Sounds like Daddy's calling," Tolle remarked, his face immediately dawning a large grin as Lunamaria quirked an eyebrow at the statement. "Looks like it's time to go, Miss ZAFT Red."

"My name is Lunamaria Hawke," she said sternly, giving him a small glare. She really disliked it when people called her something in correlation to her uniform, no matter how proud of it she was. Without waiting for a reply, she pushed herself away and towards her ZAKU.

"And my name's Tolle Koenig!" the Lieutenant called out formally.

Shaking her head, Lunamaria tried to return her mind to the task she'd previously abandoned. But before she fell back into that mentality, she quietly admitted to herself that she may have finally begun to understand some of the weird quirks in Tolle's personality and behavior.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 5, 73 C.E.  
Junius 7, 5:44am**

"Dammit, what's going on?!" Dearka yelled out over the radio of his Gunner ZAKU Warrior. "Who are these guys?!"

The attack had come without warning and without mercy. Once they had finally shown themselves, Dearka counted no less than fifty GINNs, High Maneuver Type II. All were armed to the teeth with beam rifles, swords, and even a few beam bazookas. It was painfully obvious early on that these enemy pilots were veterans of the war due to how efficiently they worked and moved. However, Dearka was quite sure that he'd come armed with at least a rifle, he could've mowed them down like dominos.

But the sad fact was that the attack was sudden, vicious, and completely unexpected. The only reason he had thus far been able to evade being shot at was because the Meteor Breaker he had been helping to place into position on the falling Junius 7 was a distance away from the heart of the battle.

Once Yzak's little gifts of spare rifles had finally come crashing down into the battle, the Joule Team had finally been able to put up a defense. The blond Coordinator, deeming that the Breaker he'd been helping with was safely in place, flew off to engage the enemy GINNs head on. He shot one blast after another with the Orthros long-range beam cannon he was using, trying to shred the attackers each time. Unfortunately, the pilots of those GINNs were proving to be quite skilled in the use of their machines, he had been able to destroy only three of them at this point.

"Just who the hell are these guys?" he growled in anger at yet another missed shot. "They're fucking experts!"

"_Workers, continue with the demolition placements!_" Yzak commanded loudly from his blue ZAKU as he chased off an attacking GINN from one of the Breakers. "_We_ _still have a job to do! Don't play into their hands!_"

It was at that moment that three new signals appeared on the radar. Dearka and Yzak, both among of the closer ones to the signals, turned to face the approaching units. What they saw were Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss, the units they'd heard were stolen from Armory One only a few days prior. What were they doing here? It was as they drew closer that the three new machines moved into attack positions, Dearka and Yzak were already moving to evade and counter.

Just as the three units were about to open fire, a sudden burst of beams came rushing towards them from the side, catching everyone by surprise. Glancing in that direction, at first Dearka saw nothing out of place, not even the radar was detecting anything. Then as though peeling itself out of nowhere…something appeared. At first it looked like some kind of orange spider-like mobile armor. However, even with the limited visibility of the approaching object, all pilots could tell that a mobile armor it was _not_.

Whatever it was, it was showering golden beams down upon the three approaching Gundams without remorse. But what drew surprise from both veteran pilots was the unbelievable speed it was rushing forward at! The three Gundams quickly scattered and deftly dodged each beam that was aimed towards them, a true testament to their pilots' skills.

As it flew in among the battling GINNs and ZAKUs, the thing went into a sudden roll, seemingly out of control. Halfway through the roll, sections of the machine moved and repositioned themselves. What Yzak and Dearka saw as the object finally came to a halt was the backside of a very familiar mobile suit.

With its new orange wings spread wide open, the legendary Freedom hovered proudly and at the ready between the two sides as all fighting came to an abrupt halt for just a second.

"_The Freedom?_" someone asked over the radio. "_Is that the __**Freedom?!**_"

As if in response to the question, the Freedom suddenly shot upwards and turned towards the momentarily-frozen battle beneath it. Quick as lightning, it flashed into a firing position and rained pinpoint precise shots down upon the horde of GINNS, utterly destroying more than fifteen of them in less than two seconds.

Athrun, who was piloting a ZAKU, could only stare in disbelief at the magnified image of the Gundam that had just appeared on the battlefield. Despite its new orange color scheme, he could recognize that Gundam anywhere! That was Kira's suit…Was Kira piloting it?!

"_Back to work, everyone!_" Yzak yelled out suddenly. "_We've got a PLANT to break apart!_"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

In the blue Abyss, Auel just stared in awe at the pure destruction that the funny-looking mobile suit had just done to the ZAFT forces ahead them. Even though he hadn't spent much time on the subject since it had been assumed destroyed in the last war, Auel could recognize that winged Gundam just as easily as anyone else: the ZGMF X10A Freedom!

However, it looked very different from the pictures and movie clippings he'd seen of in the last war. The wings were now a prominent, if slightly faded, orange color. The orange shield it was carrying had a pair of weapon barrels protruding from near the end of it, clearly that shield could be as easily used as a beam rifle as it could a shield. There was also a strangely shaped and bulky-looking attachment mounted onto the Freedom's right forearm, it almost looked like a small shield of some kind. But what really caught his interest was that he could easily see not two but _four_ separate beam sabers stored upon its hull, two on the waist and two on the shoulders.

With this strange new Freedom hovering proudly in front of him, wings still spread wide with plumes of blue engine energy glowing brightly behind it, the Gundam was an awe-striking sight, regardless of whether it was real or not. But then Auel's awe turned to instant envy. He wanted that Gundam!

"Hey, Sting," he called out. "That's the Freedom, isn't it?"

"_I think so_," the green-haired Extended leader answered. "_But it looks different from what I remember. However, it doesn't seem to be our enemy. It just destroyed those GINNs. We'll assume it's on our side, but keep your guard up!_"

"If it is the Freedom," Auel said, ignoring Sting's order as he opened the Abyss' fin-shields and taking aim. "Taking _its_ head would be _one __**hell**__ of a souvenir!_" With that said, he blasted all his guns at the winged Gundam's back.

However, not a single beam hit home as the Gundam suddenly dodged to the side. Turning to face his attacker, the Freedom lunged forward with a massive burst of speed, firing its rifle relentlessly. Auel was forced completely on the defensive, using his shields to protect his vulnerable center and head piece.

"_You idiot!_" Sting growled in annoyance as he shifted the Chaos into its armor mode. Unleashing his weapon pods, he rushed forward to attack the Freedom and draw it away from the Abyss. He couldn't help but grin in response when he was able to land several direct hits upon the Gundam. "_Auel, don't get carried away! Stellar, go take out those bastards up ahead_."

"_Understood_," the girl grunted before her Gundam rocketed away.

Trying to press his advantage, Sting continued to fire his pods at the Freedom while he came swooping down to lacerate it with his beam claws. However, now that he'd gained its attention, the winged Gundam began an almost exotic dance between the attacking pods and easily slipped out of the Chaos' lunge.

"Hold still, will you!" Auel yelled as he fired towards the evasive Freedom with all his weapons again. Somersaulting in a clearly arrogant fashion over the beams as he once again dodged them, the Freedom responded in kind with a pair of shots from its plasma cannons, forcing Auel to dodge away.

"_Gotcha!_" Sting cried, the Chaos charging forward in mobile suit mode with a beam saber in hand. As the Freedom landed on Junius 7, the Chaos made a vicious swing towards the cockpit. But the reflexes of the Freedom's pilot were far above and beyond any that Sting had ever seen before. The Freedom managed to duck underneath the swing, bringing its shield-rifle into position and fired at near pointblank range into the Chaos' starboard weapon pod.

Reacting immediately, the Chaos grabbed its other beam saber and brought it down towards the Freedom's right side. Just before the saber could come into contact with the strange little shield-like object mounted on the Freedom's right forearm, a pair of beam claws sprung to life and blocked the saber.

"_You've got to be kidding me!_" Sting growled as he pulled the Chaos a safe distance away before the Freedom could attack again. "_Since when does the Freedom have crap like that?!_"

"I've got him this time!" Auel yelled, triumph in his voice.

Behind the Freedom, the Abyss was rushing forward with its beam lance activated and raised for a vertical fatal strike. As Sting backed ever so slightly away, the pilot of the Freedom was quickly alerted to the Abyss' presence and reacted instantly. Just before the Abyss could close the remaining distance to deliver its strike, the Freedom's wings raised and pointed themselves towards the attacking Gundam. Panels on the tips of the eight wings suddenly slid open and the tips of beam rifles snapped into place. An instant later, all eight wings fired and struck the unguarded Abyss powerfully, knocking it away. Only the power of its VPS armor prevented those beams from penetrating the Abyss' internal structure.

Quickly changing targets, the Freedom raised its right arm towards the Chaos, putting the Extended on guard. Unexpectedly, the entire shield-like structure suddenly detached itself and shot forward, aiming for the Chaos' remaining weapon pod. Reacting too late, Sting could only growl out in anger as he lost his second pod while the shield quickly returned to its original perch on the Freedom's forearm.

"_This guy_…" he growled out through clenched teeth. "_He's even __**worse**__ than that combining bastard!_"

"How about we stop playing 'nice' then?" Auel asked, the malice clear in his voice.

It was at this time that there came a massive explosion from where the larger battle was taking place. All three combatants turned and saw that Stellar had just destroyed one of the Breakers that the ZAFT pilots were trying to put into place

Jumping forward, the Freedom suddenly shifted forms. Its legs folded from the waist backwards and the arms stretched over the chest, causing the large shield-rifle to form a protective shell over the entire length. With a power blast of its engines, the mobile armor Freedom went rocketing over towards the bestial Gaia Gundam.

"_Stellar, incoming!!_" Sting yelled out as he and Auel turned to chase after the missile of a mobile suit.

The warning came almost too late. Barely dodging to the side, the blonde glared hatefully at the misshaped objected firing towards her. "_You won't defeat me. __**No one can defeat me!!**_"

Breaking away from the latest pair of ZAKU she had been attacking, Stellar drew her beam saber as she rushed the incoming mobile armor. With a loud battle cry, she brought her saber slashing forward, intent on cutting the machine into two pieces. But before it was even within reach, the armor suddenly went into an erratic tumble, confusing her and causing her aim to miss her mark badly. Turning and slashing her saber at the same time as it passed her, she found herself facing the Freedom as it again changed back into its true form. The Freedom had drawn its own saber and easily blocked hers. Bringing its shield-rifle forward, the Freedom took a quick shot at her Gundam's semi-unprotected torso and knocked her backwards.

"_WHY YOU!!!_" Truly enraged, Stellar fired her own rifle at the Freedom, desiring nothing more than to see it up in flames.

As if to piss her off all the more, the Freedom deflected and blocked each beam away with its saber before rushing forward. Blocking each other's slash with their shields, the pair of them found themselves in a lock of strength of will. Then, without warning, the Xiphias rail cannons on the Freedom's waist rose up and fired, blowing the Gaia back. As the Gaia was still recovering from unexpected attack, the Freedom lunged forward with its beam saber at the ready. With one decisive slash, it removed the Gaia's shield arm and heavily damaged part of its shoulder.

Seeing the rapidly approaching Abyss, the Freedom continued on its charge. Discarding its shield-rifle and flying forward with only its saber, the Freedom rushed towards the Abyss as the blue Gundam prepared to fire its shield cannons again. Just before the Abyss could fire, the Freedom snatched another other beam saber from its waist and made a single slash with each across the inside of the Abyss' shield cannons. The damage, combined with the Abyss in the process of firing them again, caused both to be blown apart. The resulting damage gave the shields an appearance of wearing a pair of smashed shells on its hull.

The Chaos, which was slightly behind and to the side of the Abyss, immediately turned to attack the Freedom with its beam rifle. Utilizing the added thrusters installed in its wings, the Freedom made an abrupt flight change that not only helped it dodge but allowed it to close the distance between it and the Chaos very quickly. Diving under the green Gundam, the Freedom took a single slash and amputated the Chaos of its legs. Circling around the ruined but still dangerous unit, the Freedom removed the arm that held its beam rifle.

Sheathing its sabers, the Freedom was fast to recollect its shield-rifle, utterly ignoring the ruined Gundams at its back. Flying up once again, it surveyed the battlefield quickly. Apparently the GINNs, despite having the initial advantage, were now being overpowered thanks to the ZAKUs' well coordinated attacks, as well as the back-up mobile suits and Gundam that had been sent by the _Minerva_. However, there were still ten GINNs remaining. Snapping into a firing position, the Freedom fired all its weapons again, instantly eliminating all the remaining GINNs.

Letting out a long breath of relief, Akira turned back to face the three crippled Gundams below him. The pilots of those Gundams were indeed exceptional in all regards. Their reaction times were nearly superhuman, their aim was superb, and the apparent ease of the usage of the Gundams was nothing short of astonishing. Were these three truly Naturals?

Whatever the case, as he stared down at them, he began to prepare to finish them off. But…this just didn't seem right. True, they'd been attacking him. He'd fought back and overpowered each one of them without remorse. But now they were, for all intents and purposes, defenseless. Did he really want to destroy those three Gundams so badly that he'd attack defenseless opponents like that? In cold-blood?

…_No, not like this_.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

"That guy is awesome!" Lunamaria said breathlessly. She and Athrun had been some of the very few to have stopped fighting after the Freedom had made its first mass attack on the GINNs and watched it battle the three stolen Gundams. "Where do you think he's been hiding all this time?"

In her own opinion, Lunamaria had been expecting the sheer power and skill of the Freedom. But at the same time, she'd have thought that the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss would've put up more of a fight against it. The fact that even ZAFT's more modern 'Second Stage' Gundams were no real match against this new Freedom was a real eye-opener to the rookie pilot to the Freedom and its current pilot's overwhelming power and potential.

Receiving no comment from Athrun, Lunamaria switched on visual communication with his ZAKU to see what he was doing.

"_Kira?!_" he was calling out repeatedly as he changed from one communication frequency to the next. "_Kira Yamato! Are you there?!_ _**KIRA!!**_"

"I don't think trying to contact him in the middle of a fight is the best idea, Athrun," she commented dryly. Athrun just turned an annoyed glare at her before continuing his frantic search for the Freedom's radio frequency. "I know that he use to be your friend, but what if that's not Yamato in that Gundam?"

"_That's not possible_," Athrun said in a very firm voice that brooked no argument. "_Very few people could possibly handle the Freedom as well as Kira or I could. And there's no way that Kira would allow anyone else but himself to pilot that suit…Lacus would kill him if he did_." That last comment brought a small, bitter smile to his face. "_Kira?! Answer me, Kira!!_"

"_This is Akira Iyadomi of the Neo Freedom_," a very deep voice suddenly growled over the radio, surprising all of the remaining ZAFT pilots. It took Lunamaria a few seconds to realize that the voice wasn't a natural one, but filtered. "_ZAFT forces please continue with the operation, I will scout around for any remaining terrorists!_" Then before the many eyes of the ZAFT pilots, the newly-named Neo Freedom shifted into that awkward-looking mobile armor and promptly vanished from sight.

"_That's right, it has Mirage Colloid now,_" Athrun muttered quietly to himself, remind Lunamaria that her channel was still open with him. "_Kira, you've certainly been busy these past two years._"

"_You heard him, people!_" came the sharp voice of what was most likely the commander. "_Back to work and pick up the pace! Or it won't matter if we split it apart!_"

It was at that moment that a trio of signal flares called for the retreat of the stolen Gundams by Bogey One. Lunamaria couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as she watched the trio of pain in the ass thieves quickly retreated.

"_Let's go, Lunamaria_," Athrun said as he finally gave up contacting the Neo Freedom pushed his ZAKU towards the nearest Meteor Breaker.

After a few minutes of tedious, nerve-wracking placements of the drill-bombs, a series of internal explosions caused the massive falling PLANT to split into two prominent pieces. Rather than marvel at their achievement, the veteran pilots immediately went back to work as setting their remaining Breakers on the halves. In quick succession, the PLANT began to break apart into smaller and smaller pieces.

Just as she was about fly towards a pair of Breakers that had been abandoned and somehow forgotten in the fighting, Luna's screen suddenly flashed to life. The _Minerva_ was planning on entering the atmosphere while firing its Tannhauser positron cannon?! That was insane! But orders were orders, and with great reluctance she flew back towards the warship. Only shortly after landing did she realize that Athrun hadn't accompanied her.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

Shinn was in the process of flying back towards the _Minerva_ when he noticed something out of the corner of his screen. A single ZAKU had remained and was attempting to place one of the remaining Breakers into the proper position. Changing course, he flew down towards the ZAKU and slowly recognized it as the one that Athrun was piloting.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Did this guy have a death wish or something? "We've been ordered to withdraw."

"_Even if the **Minerva** uses its cannon, all it'll do is just scorch the surface of this thing_," Athrun explained, his voice calm and steady. "_If I can get this one going, it'll make the **Minerva**'s main cannon much more effective._"

Without even a second's consideration, Shinn swooped around to the other side of the Breaker casing and held it steady as Athrun continued to punch in the activation sequence. "Answer me something, Zala. Why would someone like you want to be on _Orb's_ side?"

"_Because it's my home now_," Athrun said very quietly.

It was in that moment that a series of beams racing past them, just barely missing the high-explosive device. "_NO!! We won't let you!_"

Turning and drawing one of his beam sabers in one move, Shinn spotted a trio GINNs that had somehow survived the battle. As he rushed forward to attack, with Athrun hovering protectively in front of the Breaker, Shinn couldn't help but growl in annoyance. It would seem that the _Neo_ Freedom wasn't as all-powerful as it at first appeared!

"_My daughter's tombstone __**must**__ fall!_" a furious voice shouted over the radio. "_Only then can this __**wretched**__ world ever __**change!!**_"

Quickly disposing of the GINN in the front, Shinn was momentarily caught by surprise. _His daughter? Just who exactly were these guys anyway?!_

"_You damn bastards_," growled another voice. "_You're laughing with the butchers who caused this massacre here! Living in a damn dream world! Patrick Zala knew it all along! His plan is the only **true** path for **Coordinators!**_"

"_If you **truly** believe that_," growled that same filtered voice from earlier. "_then by condemning __**all of Earth** for the **actions of a few,** _you're _**no better**__ than those 'butchers'__!_"

That filtered cry of anger was all the warning that the remaining GINNs had before the orange Neo Freedom suddenly appeared behind them, catching everyone by surprise as it fired all its beam cannons mercilessly into the unprotected backs of the machines. Once the explosions had settled, the Neo Freedom dropped down to the last remaining Breaker and heaved it up, flying off to the side.

"_Pilots of the Impulse and ZAKU, hurry and return to the __**Minerva**__!_" the Neo Freedom's pilot said. "_This fragment and the __**Minerva**__ is going to enter Stage Two of reentry in less than twenty-seven seconds_."

"What about you?" Shinn asked, already preparing to comply with the order. "What are you going to do?"

"_I'm going to set this Breaker up on the far side of the fragment_," the pilot said easily. "_With these two Breakers and the __**Minerva**__'s Tannhauser cannon, there will be much less debris_."

"_Are you crazy, Kira?!_" Athrun cried. "_Not even the Freedom could survive reentry into the atmosphere flying at those speeds! Even if you don't die of extreme heat, you won't be able to slow your descent enough to prevent crashing!_"

"_Who is this Kira you keep calling me?_" the pilot demanded, causing Athrun to blink in surprise. That was Kira in there….wasn't it?!

"_Regardless, I'll be aiming for the Pacific Ocean, so I'll survive_," the pilot's artificial voice uttered quietly. Without another word, the Neo Freedom's engines suddenly flared brightly and the Gundam flew off at surprising speeds.

"_KIRA!!_" Athrun yelled, watching in despair as the Gundam he was positive his friend was piloting disappeared over the horizon. Without even a second thought, he turned his ZAKU and went racing after the speeding Gundam. _I've lost him twice already, I __**will not**__ lose him a third time!!_

"_Athrun, what the hell are you doing?!_" Shinn demanded as the Impulse suddenly appeared in the ZAKU's side camera. "_The __**Minerva**__ is going to entering Stage Two any moment and your ZAKU isn't properly equipped for solo reentry!_"

Now Athrun was truly torn. Shinn was right, he had known it ever since he'd climbed into the ZAKU's cockpit. Though there had been a risk that something like this would happen, that he might be forced into reentry, he had not given it much thought. Certainly the ZAKU's armor and shield would be quite adequate to protect him from the severe heat, but the ZAKU's engines were neither designed nor capable for reentry unless it came equipped with a special booster. If he continued after the reckless pilot of the Neo Freedom, he would suffer a fate similar to what he'd just warned Kira of.

But he didn't want to lose his friend again!

Before Athrun could finally make up his mind, Shinn's patience had finally broke and he attacked. Catching Athrun by surprise, the Impulse easily latched onto the ZAKU's backside and heaved, pulling the struggling mobile suit and pilot back towards the relative safety of the warship.

"_No!! Not again!_" Athrun yelled out. "_**KIRA!!!**_"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

Pointedly ignoring the yelling of the ZAKU's pilot, Akira maintained his focus on his task at hand. When he'd circled back towards the group and spotted the remaining terrorists he thought that had escaped the battle and saw those two Breakers, he had immediately known what he needed to do. Just before he'd jumped into action, he'd set a message to the _Minerva_, explaining his plan. The warship would continue on with its original plan of firing its positron cannon, but with the aid of this last remaining Breaker on the far side, the chance of the _Minerva_ needing to fire multiple shots during reentry had just decreased significantly.

All he had to worry about now was if the Neo Freedom's revamped cooling systems could allow it to maintain the same velocity as the Junius 7 fragment while at the same time preventing a meltdown in the extreme heat. If his calculations were correct, and they usually were, there was a thirty-four percent chance the reactor would blow as he attempted to complete his task. Setting his jaw and forcing back his instinctive fear, he continued to push the Gundam forward.

After what seemed an eternity on the steadily falling and rapidly heating up fragment, Akira finally reached the spot he wanted. With how badly the fragment was shaking, how quickly the exterior was heating up, the steady increase in speed of the falling hunk of rock, Akira found himself hard-pressed to set the Breaker down on a semi-level surface.

By this time, the surface of the Junius 7 piece was already glowing a fierce red as trails of seemingly red smoke began to rising up from around the edges of the fragment. The interior of the Neo Freedom also began to noticeably heat up as it maintained a steady rate of fall with the fragment. Why hadn't the _Minerva_ fired its blasted cannon yet?! Keeping one eye on the coolant gauges for the nuclear reactor, Akira found himself straining with the controls, pushing with all his strength to punch in the universal activation code for the Breaker.

7…3…5…3…9…4…

A piece of burning debris suddenly fragmented under the Neo Freedom, causing the Gundam to lose its footing momentarily. In that moment, the red alarm of the reactor began blare alive. Coolant fluid levels were approaching critical levels, 75 percent chance of nuclear meltdown and quickly rising. Pushing the Neo Freedom back up, he strained yet again and finally pushed in the last number: 6. The tip of the Breaker began to spin, drilling quickly into the superheated rock under it.

Mission accomplished.

Immediately gunning the engine in attempt to distance himself from the falling gravestone, Akira spread the Neo Freedom's wings to gain a greater amount of aerodynamic control. Upon clearing the lip of the fragment, he shifted the shield protectively in front of the Gundam to protect it. Fingers flying over the keyboard, he quickly calculated a reentry vector that would ensure his and the Neo Freedom's relative safety…though he would likely need to make a lot of serious internal repairs afterwards.

No sooner had he finally set the Neo Freedom into that rapid descent sequence than the Breaker exploded inside the fragment, causing the rock to segment even further into smaller but no less deadly pieces. It was at that moment that the _Minerva_ finally fired its positron cannon into the center of the largest debris remaining. Had the captain been waiting for the Breaker to go off first instead of just rtepeatedly firing its cannon blindly?

Another loud blaring alarm diverted his attention immediately. He watched in horror as the debris of the Junius 7 fragment exploded violently after the impact of the positron cannon. A vast majority of the debris scattered and fell to Earth, creating gigantic explosions and even larger disasters upon wherever they hit, whether it was the ocean, mountain range, or a city. But Akira's attention was focused on a much more immediate danger to his survival; a considerable portion of the fragments had not been sent flying straight down. They had separated and went backwards towards space. Of course, because the debris was well inside the atmosphere, they were quickly falling back to the planet's surface—straight towards the Neo Freedom!!

"I can't move from this course," Akira told himself, his fingers again racing across the keyboard. "Estimated rate of descent is optimal, to alter course now would cause the fission reactor heat levels to rise to even greater levels, _not_ optional! ...Guess we'll just have to tough it out as best we can, Neo Freedom."

That was when the debris finally reached him.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

_**Minerva**_**, 6:22am**

Captain Talia Gladys couldn't only wait in strained patience with her crew as the _Minerva_ finally began reaching safer levels of altitude in the atmosphere. Upon reaching it, she immediately set her crew to leveling out the _Minerva_ enough for them to safely land on the ocean surface. Once their stability had been achieved, she turned her attention to Bart and Meyrin.

"How are communications and sensors?" she asked, already suspecting that she knew the answer.

"Offline, Madam," Meyrin responded. "Fragments are interfering with the radio waves."

"Try using lasers or thermal sensors," she ordered. "We have to find that unknown mobile suit."

Unnoticed by Gladys, the mention of the unknown suit had finally seemed to rouse Cagalli out of the daze she'd fallen into when she had finally gotten a chance to see an image of the Neo Freedom. In her mind, there was no doubt at all. Her brother was piloting that suit. Kira was alive, appearing right when he could do the most help for all of the people of Earth. KIRA WAS ALIVE!!!

But then she'd watched as the Neo Freedom issued its plan to set a Meteor Breaker on the far side of the fragment. Even though Cagalli wasn't much a mobile suit pilot, her skills were admirable but not legendary, she could tell immediately that his plan was suicidal. Either the extreme heat or the extreme speeds would kill him before he'd even reached Earth. But then just before their sensors had gone offline, she'd caught an image of the Neo Freedom as it attempted to flee to safety. Debris had begun raining down upon it mercilessly. It had torn her up. She had finally seen the proof that her brother was indeed alive, like she'd nearly given up hoping for, and now it seemed that he was about to be taken from her again!

"Do you think the…Neo Freedom could've survived, Madam?" Arthur asked quietly, voicing the one question that was on the minds of all present on the bridge.

"After firing the Tannhauser like that," Gladys said softly. "I have no way of knowing…but I hope so." _But at least Shinn had managed to bring Athrun in before he attempted to follow after that rogue Gundam._

After several moments, Bart suddenly spoke up, "Madam! I'm detecting something off to starboard, distance 153, traveling at terminal speeds!"

Snapping her head around, Gladys said, "Do we have a visual?"

"Yes, madam," Bart answered. "Bringing it on screen now."

The image that greeted them was not what Cagalli wanted to see. Not at all. The once legendary machine, with its crisp edges and smooth armor, looked like a twisted hunk of metal that was in the vague shape of a mobile suit which had been scorched black at various places along its exterior. Its once proud wings were twisted and warped, some were even missing altogether. There was also a trailing plume of vile black smoke following the Gundam's descent towards the Pacific Ocean.

Cagalli watched in horror as the seemingly lifeless machine crashed into the waves with unimaginable force. While her heart was screaming and begging for her to believe that her brother had somehow survived that, her brain was telling that not even the Ultimate Coordinator could've lived through that.

But…this wasn't right! She had finally seemed to have found her brother, or at the very least a potential clue that could point her in his direction, and now it had just vanished before her eyes into the depths of an ocean. With the pilot, be it her brother or someone else, most likely killed by the impact…if they weren't _already_ dead.

This just wasn't right!!

* * *

**(Author's Note)** I'd like to give a nice big shout-out to **backlash5** and **FictionReader98**. **Backlash5** gave me an idea that I hope to use some time in the near future of this story. And **FictionReader98** gets huge amounts of gratitude for beta-reading this chapter and offering suggestions that I'd honestly forgotten to use. Thanks a million, guys!

And there we have it! The Neo Freedom's grand reappearance...and disappearance! I bet many of you were expecting Akira to land triumphantly either at Orb or on the _Minerva_. Right? Right? Sorry, not even close! And now it would seem that Akira has been killed in reentry because of the extreme speeds, heat, and the severe damage done by collisons with debris from the primary Junius 7 fragment. What'll happen now? You'll just have to wait and see! ;P

With this chapter, the poll for possible Neo Freedom armaments is officially over. However, I do have another thing for you readers. I have had several people asking if there was a picture of the Neo Freedom's new look, but unfortunately I don't have any available. For those of you artists out there, feel free draw up any pictures that you want. I'd be more than happy to add a link on my homepage for any works that you'd submit, I only ask that you run them by me first.

Here is a listing of the Neo Freedom's new armaments and equipment that was used in this chapter. However, due to the extreme damage, it is debatable whether we'll ever see any or all of these new weapons again. That is, if Akira and the Neo Freedom manage to survive and 'reunite' once again.

**ZGMF-X10A Neo Freedom Gundam  
**Power plant:  
Ultra-compact nuclear fission reactor (Freedom)  
Equipment and design features:  
Sensors, range unknown (Freedom)  
Phase Shift (PS) armor (Freedom)  
Neutron Jammer Canceller (Freedom)  
G.U.N.D.A.M. Operating System (Freedom)  
Mirage Colloid (_Early Harvest_)  
Additional thrusters, hidden in wings, used mostly while in mobile armor mode (various mobile suits)  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x "Igelstellung" 75mm multi-barrel CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head (Strike Dagger)  
2 x M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon, stored in wings, mounted over shoulders in use in HiMAT (High Mobility Aerial Tactics) mode (Freedom)  
8 x 57mm high-energy beam cannons, stored inside hidden compartments of the wings, alongside the new maneuverability thrusters (various mobile suits)  
2 x MMI-M15 "Xiphias" rail cannon, folded underneath hips, spread out in use in HiMAT (Freedom)  
4 x MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam sabers, two stored on waist and two on shoulders (Freedom)  
1 x dual beam claw, mounted on small shield on the right forearm, can be fired out with modified DRAGOON system (GuAIZ)  
1 x "Kaefer Zwei" 115mm dual ram cannon, mounted on shield of left arm (Calamity)  
1 x MA-M21G beam rifle, stored on rear of waist (GuAIZ)


	6. Devastation and Conspiracies

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 6: Devastation and Conspiracies_

**October 5, 73 C.E.**

The large, glowing red PLANT that was falling from the skies could be clearly seen by all inhabitants of the Earth in the Eastern Hemisphere. For many of those who could see it for whatever reason that they weren't in the emergency shelters, it was a sight as beautiful as it was terrifying. Everyone knew the deadly significance of what would inevitably happen when it finally landed. For those who could see it and had no other reason not to, they had ceased nearly all activity to watch the falling PLANT.

The official report stated that the thing would likely impact in the Indian Ocean, near Equator. The resulting tidal waves would most assuredly wipe all coastal areas, including nearly all of India, eastern Africa, and Western Australia. After that, a very long nuclear winter would start from all the dust that would be thrown into the air from the impact, choking the planet and all life into slow deaths for the next hundred years at minimum.

But now, the witnesses could see the massive PLANT beginning to break apart into smaller pieces. ZAFT had apparently held true to its word that they were doing everything they could to prevent it from falling. That observation offered little reassurance to the people of the earth. How could ZAFT possibly believe that they could prevent or minimize the damage that would be done in a few short minutes?

However, as the minutes slowed and the PLANT loomed ever closer, growing brighter and brighter from the atmospheric friction, they watched what they'd deemed impossible. The massive falling rock began to slow disintegrate, breaking apart with agonizing slowness. Seeing this slow deterioration of the PLANT was enough to give many people hope that perhaps their former enemies would succeed after all.

Then, without any warning, the largest of the fragments suddenly seemed to shatter. A spectacular explosion of brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows lit up the evening and night skies. From that explosion rained countless smaller fragments, many of which quickly were burnt up in the friction thanks to their smaller sizes. However, just as many fragments continued to fall mostly unopposed towards the planet.

Several dozen of the fragments that finally reached the planet's surface crashed into the Indian Ocean, creating multiple tidal waves that would quickly merge into one monstrous tsunami. This tsunami would strike all coastal areas in the Indian Ocean, washing away all forms of life and civilization that stood in its path and wipe out tens of millions of lives, mostly in India. The fragments that didn't land in the ocean caused significant damage as well, though nowhere near the magnitude as the coastal regions. Central and northern Africa, the Middle East, China, central Asia, and even a few sites in eastern North America and Europe were struck, resulting in several massive craters. Landslides, earthquakes, forest fires, smog, and flash floods were among the many disasters that struck the areas nearest these crash sites.

The resulting death toll would be enormous. Near one billion people died that day and all were killed within a few minutes of one another. It would forever be called the single worst catastrophe in recorded human history; _nearly_ on par with the extinction of the dinosaurs.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Djibril Manor, 9:00am**

The man known as Lord Djibril could very easily be called many things. Things like visionary, terrorist, politician, murderer, businessman, thief, bureaucrat, strategist, mastermind, and even something as simple as a liar. But never let it be said that he was an idiot; whenever he saw an advantageous opening that he could exploit, he took it after considering the pros and cons of the action.

With the fall of Junius 7 to Earth, he finally had the key that was needed to spark another war. He, unlike his predecessor, would finally eradicate the abominations of space. Using the knowledge gained from the past mistakes and new technologies that had either been developed or stolen, he knew that his destined path would not be stopped.

After all, he was Lord Djibril, leader of Logos and Blue Cosmos alike!

However, Phantom Pain had provided more than just the perfect trump card to ignite the war. As well as the perfect material to steer the world in the direction it was destined to take, he had received an unexpected ace should things go awry…but he strongly doubted they would since his plan was _perfect_. Yet this new opportunity was something that he just could _not_ bear to pass up for any reason. Just how damaging would it be to those beasts if one of their most celebrated heroes suddenly seemed to have become their enemy?

"And you're certain that you can acquire the 'object' before the Representative can send any of her people?" he demanded in an almost disinterested tone while he idly sipped his wine.

"Once you'd been kind enough to share these…enlightening pictures with us," Alwin Ritter said, an ugly sneer pulling at his lips. "It was relatively easy for my men to calculate its approximate crash site. And thanks to the disaster, that ZAFT warship will forced to bring the little girl home before they can even consider scavenging it themselves. By then, I can guarantee that my men will have collected it and have long since left the area."

Nodding to show his acceptance of the man's claims, Djibril took another sip of his wine while he carefully considered his next statement. "Be sure that your men do not leave any trace that it was even there. That machine could be just the ace that we need to break those accursed space monsters' spirits."

"Of course," Ritter growled slightly, but nodded his head regardless. "Once its system has been flushed, my men will begin the data extraction and appropriate repairs immediately."

"How long do you estimate they'll take?" It was the answer to this question that he was most anxious to hear.

Sighing loudly in resignation, Ritter said, "If the damage is as severe as we predict, at least a month if I push my best engineers to work around the clock."

"Do it," the purple-lipped lord ordered immediately. "I want that machine up and running properly at least by the time of our attack on the beasts' homeland. That is the focus of your activities for the next month. I will deal with the Alliance."

"Of course," Ritter said, a slight note of annoyance in his voice, he _hated_ being ordered around like this. "As you command."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Aprillis City, 11:00am**

Even though he was staring at the monitor before him, watching the many images of devastation that had been wreaked on Earth as a result of the PLANT drop, Supreme ZAFT Chairman Gilbert Durandal's mind was a literal battlefield. There were so many things taking place within his psyche that anyone other than the most skilled of commanders in the armed forces would've gotten lost amongst all the chaos.

On one hand, he was already predicting the Earth Alliance's next move, no doubt being guided by Logos. If his suspicion was correct, and Logos was indeed leading the Atlantic Federation by its nose hairs, then a direct assault on the PLANTs was guaranteed. Though that attack was just the second step of his plan to recreate human society and order, he was already putting into motion the general 'theme' that he'd envisioned the PLANTs' role to be in the coming war. They would not purposelessly entice the wrath of the people, fighting only when necessary thus to allow the Earth-bound peoples' grief and impulsive anger to wane. All the good deeds that they would do in the midst of the war, including sending immediate supplies and aid to the impact areas of the Junius 7 fall, would help to lessen any opposition to ZAFT (maybe even winning him the most vital asset of all) when he was able to finally take action against Logos and the Orb Union.

But in order for his ultimate plan to succeed, he needed qualified and able people to play the roles necessary to achieve that ultimate plan. And already he had begun to pull in those who he knew could and would play a significant role, the prime candidate for the battlefields being Athrun Zala. The boy was restless in peace, unable to properly handle the many ghosts of his past, and feeling the need to take action so he could feel that familiar sensation of being needed. On that front, things had been progressing very smoothly.

While being able to fight and win battles with a minimal loss of life on either side was indeed important, Durandal also needed someone to help him watch over things back in the PLANTs. He needed someone with the popularity and a clearly known desire for the general good and safety of the public. The perfect candidate for that job was undoubtedly Lacus Clyne. But he knew without even having to meet her that she would not agree with his views, nor would she desire to entice the people to go to war. However, there were always ways around that. His false-Lacus was nearly ready for her first debut, and his assassination squad was prepared to strike at anytime.

The only thing that Durandal might've been concerned about would've been the appearance of the _Archangel_, the _Eternal_, and the Freedom Gundam, all of which had gone missing after the war. The _Archangel _alone had become a symbol of immortality and resistance to the Earth and PLANTs alike, always fighting against the forces that the crew deemed were unjust and had ill-intentions. The sheer fighting power and impeccable ability to survive situations and battles that many others would've perished in were second to none in the previous war, and quite likely to hold true in the coming one if it got involved.

Durandal knew that his forces needed to either capture the ships before they could get properly equipped for the war or to destroy them failing that. But despite his best spies and undercover operatives' best efforts, the locations of the fabled ships had thus far eluded him. But since the Freedom had been supposedly destroyed in the final battle, along with the Providence and Justice Gundams, he had not wasted his resources searching for its remains.

As this thought registered in his consciousness, Durandal resisted the urge to snort derisively. The irony of the situation was staggering to him. The one key element that he had refrained from searching for, believing that it was no longer an obstacle, was the first one reappear after two years, stronger than ever before. And then, as quickly as it had shown itself, it had supposedly vanished, once again assumed destroyed.

Now that he was aware of it, Durandal was once again attempting to piece together what its pilot's, this Akira Iyadomi, intentions were. He was under no illusions that the Freedom had been truly destroyed, no he was beginning to suspect that anyone who was under the Gundam's protection would, however temporarily, acquire its uncanny survivability. That was why he believed the Gundam and pilot would both come back, once they'd recovered from the fall, probably even more skilled than they were before.

Durandal's men had already informed him that they had found a record and history of an Akira Iyadomi. He was a renowned mobile suit pilot in the service of ZAFT during the early stages of the war, killed in action during the occupation of Carpentaria due to friendly fire. Clearly this new mystery pilot of the 'Neo Freedom' was not Akira Iyadomi, who had been buried with the rest of his fallen soldiers on that bloody day. For whatever reason, 'Akira Iyadomi' was an alias for this pilot. That could mean any number of things.

Regardless of what this pilot's true name was, he was a maverick to Durandal's plans. He needed to know whether the pilot would be a help or hindrance. But it was still much too early to know intentions of the pilot. Yet there was one thing clear at the moment: the pilot had an incredibly courageous and selfless heart to put himself into such danger for the safety of the people of Earth. There was no denying that.

Before focusing his mind back on the present, Durandal made a mental note to have his forces search for the crash site of the Neo Freedom immediately after his addressing the Earth with ZAFT's desire to aid the survivors and cleanup crews.

If at all possible, he wanted that pilot on _his_ side!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**October 6, 73 C.E.  
**_**Minerva**_**, 10:10am**

It was a nerve-racking experience for them. They wanted to rush home as quickly as possible to determine whether or not they had a home to return to or not. They each had duties and responsibilities to attend to that forced them to return to Orb, namely Cagalli being the Chief Representative with Athrun and Tolle being her aides and bodyguards. With the disaster, all of them were worried for their home since the _Minerva_ had been unable to establish communications with the island nation.

But to return to Orb now meant abandoning the one clue they had to finding Kira!

For all its technological advances, impressive weaponry, and the versatility of its design, neither the _Minerva_ nor any of its mobile suits were designed, built, or intended for use underwater. And while the _Minerva_ could float on the ocean's surface and had been able to locate the Neo Freedom's approximate location by using sonar and the still very extreme heat that the suit was giving off, they could do little more than drop a radar marker on the site for any rescue craft to use to track.

Cagalli was a literal wreck. On one hand she was agonizing over the state of her nation, hoping against hope that it was left unharmed from the disaster. Normally this concern alone would've been enough to keep her preoccupied for the better part of the journey towards the island nation. But she was also hopelessly entangled in a never-ending line of questions that had no answers, all relating to the Freedom's sudden reappearance and disappearance, the pilot's identity, chances of survival, and the ever-remote possibility that if it really wasn't her brother flying it, if he knew where Kira was. But another unexpected fight with Shinn out on the observatory deck (without Tolle to play defense) proved to be Cagalli's breaking point.

She had quickly retreated to her quarters so she could give into her despair in privacy. Even with Athrun and Tolle's extensive attempts to help her out of it, nothing seemed to work. It got to the point that Tolle 'accidentally' slipped Cagalli a dose of powerful sleeping drugs into a glass of water to help her rest. And even now, almost a full day later, she was still sleeping off the effects of a drug meant for Coordinators.

"How was I supposed to know that you guys needed an extra-strong kick in the ass to hit the hay when you're feeling all down like that?" Tolle had asked in his defense when Athrun had almost literally wrung his neck when he'd found out.

"We're on a _Coordinators' _warship," Athrun had stated in extreme annoyance and frustration. "That alone should've told you _something_ about that stuff's potency!"

The two veteran pilots, while concerned for their home, had chosen to relieve their stress by painstakingly analyzing the _Neo_ Freedom's fighting style and capabilities. So together they sat in front of the console in their shared quarters, Cagalli still sleeping heavily on her bed off to side.

From what they could see, most of its original weapons were still installed, but its earlier limitations had either been reduced or eliminated altogether. Tolle had been the one to spot new maneuvering thrusters installed in the wings, which explained many of its seemingly impossible dodges and bursts of speed. Many of the new weapons added, though radical in concept, were shockingly efficient when they'd been employed. Athrun and Tolle's personal favorites were the hidden wing-mounted beam rifles and the detachable beam claws on the right arm, respectively. The mechanic who'd rebuilt the Freedom clearly had significant amount of experience in a mobile suit's cockpit and weapons' systems.

"_This is Akira Iyadomi of the Neo Freedom_," a deep, clearly fake voice said over the speakers.

"I don't care what that guy says," Tolle said quietly after listening to that phrase again. "Only Kira could've flown the Freedom like that."

"While that may be true," Athrun agreed with a small smile. "You are forgetting something rather important."

"And what's that?" Tolle asked, watching Athrun as he rewound the clip of the battle recorded by his ZAKU.

"Just watch," Athrun replied mysteriously. Stopping the clip after a few seconds, he played the part of the Neo Freedom recollecting its discarded shield-rifle after disabling the three stolen Gundams. Now that Tolle was actively paying more attention to the clip, he saw something he'd missed earlier. The Neo Freedom had momentarily turned back towards the disabled Gundams, its reacquired shield-rifle rising ever-so-slightly towards them. But then the Gundam turned and flew off.

"I see," Tolle said slowly. "He intended to destroy those Gundams…but he decided not to."

"He spared them because they were no longer a dangerous threat to anyone," Athrun said quietly. "…That certainly sounds like Kira, doesn't it?"

Chuckling to himself, Tolle sneered slightly as he said, "Now I'm convinced: Akira Iyadomi is our Kira Yamato. Only he would've spared those three's lives like that." Looking over at Athrun, Tolle asked, "What do you think the chances of him surviving the crash are? I don't know what he did, but if that had been me out there, I'd have bailed out of the cockpit a few seconds before it struck the ocean. That should've broken up the water enough that he could survive impact and the swim to the surface, right?"

"That is one possibility," Athrun agreed easily. "And the fact that he'd be wearing a flight suit would supply him with plenty of air until he reached the surface, regardless of whether he ejected before or after hitting the surface…However, I honestly do not know what the odds could've been for him to survived reentry traveling at those speeds."

Nodding slightly, Tolle idly glanced at his watch. Was it really already ten-thirty? Sighing, Tolle stood and stretched, cracking numerous joints in process. "Well, I'm off to the hangar to work on the Fortitude again. I'd ask you watch over Cagalli, but I don't think that I have to."

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't give her those sleeping pills in the first place!" Athrun snapped, once again annoyed at the reminder of what her 'bodyguard' had done to his employer.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Alex," Tolle sneered with an overly-cheerful grin on his face as he rapidly exited the room.

Sadly for Athrun, he too was growing somewhat weary of reviewing this short battle as well. But unlike Tolle, he didn't have anything that could keep his mind occupied. There was nothing to stop him of thinking thoughts that he _really_ didn't want to think about anymore. Thoughts that quickly led to him remembering the terrorists' last words and what significance those words held, for himself especially.

Quickly growing restless, he got up and went for a walk around the ship, looking for something that would keep him occupied. He'd barely gone fifty meters when the sound of gunfire drew his attention.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Marshall Islands, 12:00pm**

Looking around in sad resignation, the young lady surveyed the damage done to the small orphanage she helped run with Reverend Malchio and her dear Kira's mother Caridad Yamato. The cottage had been completely destroyed when a tsunami, much smaller than what had hit the Indian Ocean, had struck the small island chain. All that remained of the cottage that she had home for the better part of two years was a mass of crushed and waterlogged timber with a few scattered toys of the children. Everything else was completely gone.

As Caridad and Malchio began picking through the debris with the children, Lacus Clyne strode over towards the convulsing shoreline. The sky was completely overcast with dust and smoke from all over the planet, lightning was dancing between the heavy clouds, promising that a fierce storm would arrive within a few short hours. With no home to take shelter in, Lacus and the others would need to flee their small island sanctuary and quickly.

Wriggling unhappily in her arms, the youngest of the children at the orphanage let out a quiet cry. Lacus just gently patted the blonde infant in her arms with the loving care of a young mother, cooing quietly to soothe the child's discomfort.

Glancing back out at the horizon, Lacus quietly whispered to the young infant she held, "There's a storm coming, young one…And I fear this one will be even worse than the last one had been."

In response to her statement, as though sensing the genuine concern and fear in Lacus, the young child began to cry and quietly wail. The infant's tiny hands grabbed a hold of her long pink hair tightly, as though trying to tell her not to let it go.

Cooing quietly to the small infant, Lacus felt her own fear and sadness quickly grow. In the short time that she'd had this infant, she had grown very passionately attached to it. She poured her heart into this child as a way of buffering the pain of losing the one she had quickly come to love so dearly. Thus she didn't want to leave it for any reason, but a battlefield in the last place for a baby to be. And a battlefield in most assuredly where she'd end up being in a few short months.

Of that, she was _certain_.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**October 8, 73 C.E.  
Onogoro Island, Orb 12:30pm**

Orb was still standing and relatively unharmed. That was perhaps the best news they'd heard since they first boarded the _Minerva_. However, things were clearly far from well if the way that Prime Minister Unato Ema Seiran and the entire cabinet greeted was any indication.

Standing back near the extended catwalk they'd used to exit the ship, Tolle and Athrun both watched in silence as Cagalli, the administrative cabinet members, and the commanding officers of the _Minerva_ greeted one another.

It should be noted that neither Athrun nor Tolle were known for holding grudges. In fact, the last grudge that they'd held had been against Kira and the Atlantic Federation respectively. Athrun, maddened by Nicol's death at Kira's hands, had fought more savagely against his past best friend than he ever had before, nearly killing both Kira and Tolle in the same battle.

And once Tolle had sufficiently recovered from his near-death experience, he had attempted to contact the _Archangel_ at JOSH-A, only to learn that it was being attacked by ZAFT. Believing that the _Archangel_ and his friends had been killed, Tolle had done some serious soul-searching before he'd decided to attempt to return to the Earth Alliance. Only just before he could leave, he learned that the Alliance was going to attack his homeland for no other reason than to seize control of the Mass Driver and Morgenroete. Enraged at the Alliance's actions, he found more than motivation to climb into the cockpit of that Astray and fight back as best he could. Upon discovering the _Archangel_'s presence in Orb, he'd quickly done everything in his power to protect and back-up the ship as it was forced to flee into space with the _Kusanagi_. Through the subsequent battles, both boys had fought ferociously and courageously, ultimately leading the truce between ZAFT and the Alliance, achieving their goals for peace.

With such staggering achievements under their belts when it came to them holding grudges, it should've been enough to warn anyone with intelligence to not get on their bad sides. However, it seemed that there was one man who had just rubbed both of them the wrong way from the first moment they'd met him. And now, as they watched the greetings unfold, both were forced to look to the side so as to not see the repulsive sight of Orb's Intern Representative and aspiring military commander Yuna Roma Seiran run up and embraced Cagalli as soon as she stepped off the catwalk.

The first time they'd met, Athrun had only learned a few minutes beforehand that Cagalli had been engaged to him from before he'd even met her. It had been a very awkward moment for Athrun, though he hid it extremely well behind a mask of military-ingrained calm. However, he would later admit that he should've expected her to have been engaged to someone of high-ranking status since birth. After all, was he not Athrun Zala, son of the former ZAFT National Defense Committee Chairman, who had been engaged to Lacus Clyne, daughter of the former ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman? Why shouldn't have Cagalli have been in a similar situation as he had been in? But the young man had an ego and a preconceived worldview of his worth, making him nearly as insufferable as those Blue Cosmos radicals who were always screaming about 'evils' of the space monsters over their heads.

Tolle's first acquaintance was arguably as bad as Athrun's had been. When Tolle had first received Erica Simmons' request to become the pilot of their experimental mobile suit models, at the time it was the Murasame, he had been instructed to meet up with her in the Morgenroete facility on Level Four. That level was for Orb's top-secret engineering and development of their new technologies, namely mobile suits and their weaponry/equipment. It was generally restricted to high-level government and military officials and employees. However, Tolle was still a new recruit in the Orb military at the time, so it _could_ be excused for what Yuna's reaction had been when he bumped into Tolle on that restricted floor. After reaming into the young ace pilot, without giving him the chance to defend himself or state his purpose for being there, Yuna had security arrest Tolle and throw him in the brig. It wasn't until a few hours later that Erica had finally learned what happened to him and came to his rescue. Though Tolle had been willing to forgive to Yuna, the fact that the Seiran heir hadn't even _bothered_ to apologize when they officially met had really pissed him off. Tolle had been carrying a growing grudge against the man ever since. When Cagalli had requested his services as her escort mobile suit pilot, even though he would've been willing to accept it anyway, the fact that it annoyed Yuna that she wouldn't prefer one of the pilots he'd selected had given Tolle immense satisfaction.

Listening to the man using his overly silky politician tongue at a level that was almost on par with his father was as nerve-grating to the pair of veteran pilots as it been being trapped on the _Minerva_ with Shinn.

Leaning over and whispering a soft voice he knew Athrun could easily hear, Tolle said, "I wonder if he can breathe properly when his head is that far up his ass. What do you think, Alex?"

Athrun just gave a soundless snort as he spared the 'younger' ace a glance, his lips twitching slightly from their desire to smile at the comment.

"That must be why his voice sounds so weird when he's near Cagalli," Tolle continued, utterly ignoring chatting politicians now. "After spending so much time making love to himself, the fact that he has to show a sliver of interest in anything else must make him feel like a fish out of water…not to insult the fish, of course."

By now, Athrun was forced to hide his face behind his hand in an effort to keep from breaking out in silly grin at Tolle's remarks. Insulting the offensive Seiran heir whenever he was in sight (and not always discreetly either) had become one of Tolle's more favorite pastimes since enlisting in the Orb military. Only the fact that Cagalli held a higher government position than Yuna had prevented Tolle from losing his job or being _too_ severely punished.

It was at this time that the politicians, with Yuna seeming to be hanging off of Cagalli's arm, began steering the returned Chief Representative towards the numerous vehicles that had arrived. Cagalli was in the midst of requesting a special diver team to head out in search of the crashed Neo Freedom, but Yuna interrupted when he glanced back towards the two bodyguards.

"Oh and thank you for your steadfast and loyal service to Miss Cagalli, _Alex_, _Lieutenant_ Koenig," Yuna said, a note of hidden hostility in his voice. Forcefully nodding in submissiveness to Yuna's technical superiority over them, Tolle and Athrun refrained from saying anything other than the bare minimum necessary. "You can submit your reports later, but right now, get some rest. It's possible that we may ask that serve as an envoy between us and the PLANTs in the future, Alex."

Gladys and Arthur both glanced towards the two veterans in time to see Tolle throw a dark glare at Yuna's swaggering backside.

"One of these days someone's going to knock some reality that pompous ass' brain and I hope that I'm there to watch," Tolle said, not bothering to keep his voice as quiet as it had been earlier, earning some questioning glances from the two ZAFT officers.

Athrun merely ignored the comment in favor of catching cab to take him home. Spotting some arriving technicians, Tolle happily bounded towards them, orders spewing from his mouth for them to pick up his Fortitude Gundam and begin immediate repairs.

As he approached them, he spotted an all-too-familiar female mechanic. Upon spotting her, Tolle stumbled to a halt and threw a perfect salute to her. "Lieutenant Koenig reporting from duty, Miss Simmons!"

"Is that really necessary, Tolle?" Erica asked as she came to halt in front of him. "I'm not even a military official."

"Just giving you the proper respect," Tolle answered with a small grin as he lowered his salute. "I've never been more happy to see you, Miss Simmons. The Fortitude—"

"—was badly damaged in a surprise battle that you just _had_ to get involved in," Erica interrupted, a knowing gleam in her eyes. "Yes, I know quite well what happened at Armory One. And while I'm interested in reviewing the data you'd collected, I must say that I'm not happy with you at the moment. That's _four_ new experimental mobile suit models you've flown, and _four_ experimental models that you've brought back trashed." Shaking her head woefully, she muttered out, "Sometimes I wonder why I chose you as the pilot of these new machines."

"Because I usually kick more ass than get my own ass kicked?" Tolle asked with a crooked smile on his face.

"Hardly," Erica countered. The truth was that she rather enjoyed his rebellious nature. It was something of a breath of fresh air when compared to the usual military mindset. That was one of the main reasons she'd kept him around for so long. "I just hope you brought the Fortitude back in better shape than the Kajiki."

"Of course I did!" Tolle snapped smartly. One of the reasons that he'd—_accidentally!!_—crashed the Kajiki (despite the numerous engineering errors) was because he'd disliked the suit's design. "I _love_ the Fortitude! There's no way I'd trash it purposely!"

The bickering pair quickly made their way towards the crane that would be used to hoist the damaged Gundam out of the _Minerva_'s catapult launcher.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**October 9, 73 C.E.  
An unknown location, 12:12pm**

He had no idea how long he'd swam in that convulsing, extremely cold ocean. All he knew for certain was that he'd spent more time being dunked under extremely high waves than he actually did swimming in any real direction. Finally, after a truly remarkable effort on his part and the blessings of unspeakably good fortunes, he spotted land on the horizon. By that point, he'd all but exhausted himself, so he merely allowed the tide to drag him in towards shore. Once on land and out of the tide's reach, he'd allowed himself to collapse and fall unconscious.

But now, as his consciousness slowly began to stir, he began to grow aware of something. His head was _throbbing_. It was a feeling remarkably similar to someone smashing a sledgehammer onto his cranium with every beat of his heart. An aching, all-consuming pain that felt as though his head would explode at any given moment should the wielder of that sledgehammer hit the properly spot. Everything else with his body felt overly exhausted and worn out, giving off a numbing and awkward sensation that was positively blissful compared to the torture his head was enduring.

Then he heard singing from somewhere. "_Shizukana kono yoru ni anata wo matteru no_," It was faint, but lovely. "_ano toki wasureta hohoemi wo tori ni kite_."

The words were soft, muffled even. It was as though they were being sung in another room and he could faintly hear them through the walls. But the words…they conveyed a level of emotion and sincerity that left him awed beyond understanding. And the more he concentrated on listening to that soothing voice, the less his throbbing head ached.

"_Are kara sukoshi dake jikan ga sugite_," He couldn't see anything, his body was completely exhausted and numb. Yet this sweet music was playing within his mind, comforting him in ways he never would've imagined possible before. "_omoide ga yasashiku natte ne_."

Where was this heavenly music coming from? Only an absolute goddess could sing such a beautiful song so perfectly. He dearly wished he could learn the name of this goddess, so he could properly worship her when he regained himself. As much as he desired to listen to the song and voice for eternity, his body decided now was a good time to inform him of other matters.

The song continued to play within his mind while his brain began a series of checks throughout his body. He was completely exhausted and numbed from the cold, convulsing surface he'd been forced to endure for who knows how long before he finally reached shore. Yet the sound that his ears were picking up was not the steady crash of water upon water, nor did he feel the sensation of drifting aimlessly.

"_Ima toukutemo, kitto aerune, shizuka na yoru ni_," as the heavenly voice came to the end of its song, his mind had finally reoriented itself enough to give him proper control of his body. Eyes opening slowly, Akira quickly realized that he was not floating in the ocean or lying on a beach like he thought he should've been.

He was lying in a stiff hospital bed with an IV in his left arm. But what quickly overrode that observation was the fact that he was strapped tightly to the bed, his limbs having minimal movement allowed. What was going on?!

**

* * *

(Author's Note)** For the record, that song that Akira heard singing was the Japanese version of the first verse and last line of Lacus' Quiet Night from canon. God, I love the original! Truly beautiful song when sung in Japanese.

As for the chapter itself, I know it was choppy in places, namely the beginning, but I beg you not to stop reading due to that. There was so much happening at one time during that time in canon, and with my own additions, I was having a tough time deciding what to use from canon, what to change, and what to add in. I hope the final product doesn't seem as crappy to you as it does to me.

Before I go, here's a bit of advertising from me. For those you who are interested, I recently came across an extremely interesting crossover story that has a truly bizarre fusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Gundam genre. The first story (completed) is called _A.V.A.T.A.R.: The Last of the Black Core_ and the sequel (still only a prologue currently) is _AVATAR: Hunt for the Courier;_ written by **Dearing**. For those of you who desire a completely new (but strangely plausible) twist of the Avatar series, this is a definite must-read for you! I'd personally rate the first story as a 4/5, very well done.

First verse of the **Quiet Night**:  
_Shizukana kono yoru ni anata wo matteru no_—In this quiet night, I'm here waiting for you  
_ano toki wasureta hohoemi wo tori ni kite_—Forgetting the past, your precious smile has faded away  
_Are kara sukoshi dake jikan ga sugite_—Since then now that a little time has passed  
_omoide ga yasashiku natte ne_—Past memories have over time become more precious

Final Line of **Quiet Night**:  
_Ima toukutemo, kitto aerune, shizuka na yoru ni_—Even though we're far apart now, we will surely meet again, in a silent night

Kajiki—marlin, spearfish, swordfish, sailfish


	7. Calm Before the Storm

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 7: Calm Before the Storm_

**October 9, 73 C.E.  
****An unknown location, 12:12pm**

Taking long, deep breaths to slow his heart and calm his panicking nerves, Akira glanced around the room he was in without turning his head or making any move to draw attention. From the limited view he was getting, it was clear that wherever he was seemed to be a rather non-standard hospital room of some kind. The ceiling was a pristine white, there were no windows, and there was a door with a thick locking mechanism in place.

The bed he was in was rather stiff and confining, and he was dressed in the usual hospital apron. There were little metal sidings, probably to minimize the possibility of him rolling out of the bed in his sleep. His wrists, ankles, and torso were bound tightly down by leather straps to the metal frame. Giving a few experimental pulls at the leather, Akira restrained a groan. It was strong stuff; he would be hard-pressed to break free if he had to.

A loud buzzing sound rang out through the room, coming from the door. After a second, the noise stopped and a green light flashed to life over the doorframe as the heavy lock opened. A pair of figures entered, dressed in the common doctor uniforms.

As the male doctor turned towards Akira, there was only a momentary pause in his composure with a flicker of surprise over his features as he realized that Akira was awake. However, it passed almost immediately as he realized that Akira's eyes were gazing up towards him. He was a slightly nondescript man, with his slightly heavyset body, neatly combed and cut blonde hair, easily in his late fifties.

"Oh, you're awake," he said. "You are one lucky young man. If you hadn't been found when you were unconscious, I'm quite sure that the tide would've washed you back out to sea."

"Where am I?" Akira asked quietly. For some reason, he was getting a _very_ bad feeling from this man. Though just how he was feeling this strange vibe was completely lost to him.

"You are in the Special Treatment Ward of Orb General Hospital," the nurse answered, a kind smile on her face as she began leafing through some papers on a nearby desk.

"You're probably wondering why we had you tied down," the doctor said easily as he came forward and began loosening the leather straps around Akira's torso. "You started thrashing quite violently as we were trying to treat you when you were brought in two days ago. You've been doing it randomly for the past two days." As the straps came free of his torso, Akira finally sat up.

A sudden feeling of burning pain erupted across his previously motionless body. It was searing through his muscles and felt like a white-hot iron poker being driven into each nerve of his body. It took all of Akira's considerable self-control to keep from yelling in pain.

"What's your name, boy?" the doctor asked, glancing up at Akira. That unexplainable feeling of being in the presence of an extremely dangerous person returned again full force. And as Akira stared at the man's face, he saw barest hint of a deadly gleam in his eyes. "We couldn't find any identification on you or your flight suit. Only that necklace you were wearing."

As that last phrase was processed in his brain, Akira momentarily forgot about the burning pain that was cutting his body to pieces. His free hand immediately snapped up to his chest, feeling for the reassuring circle of metal that usually hung there. But the ring necklace was missing! "Wh-where's—?"

Before he could properly finish his question, a familiar ring on a chain dangled in front of his face. The nurse was wearing an amused smile on her face as she watched him snatch it away and drape it lovingly around him.

"Who's the lucky lady?" she asked teasingly.

Akira just glanced up at her with a small, pained smile pulling at his own face before he returned his attention to inspecting the ring.

"What's your name, boy?" the doctor repeated impatiently as he moved to the side to pick up that doctor's flashlight.

"A…Kira," Akira lied, choosing the first name that came to his mind. "Kira—Yatate."

"Well, Mr. Yatate," the doctor said easily, clearly not believing him if that look in his eye was any hint. "What is an Earth Alliance pilot like you doing drifting up into Orb's territorial waters? Did you somehow get separated from your unit and crash or something?"

They thought he was an Alliance pilot? They must've assumed that because he was still using his old flight suit from two years ago. Normally, Akira would've corrected them on their understandable mistake. But that feeling he was constantly getting… Maybe he should play it safe this time.

"That's—classified, I'm afraid," he answered with an obvious hint of iron in his voice, hinting at a sudden spike of pain. "You'll have to…contact my superiors for clarification."

"I see," the doctor said as he examined how quickly Akira's eyes dilated in the bright light. "Well, then I guess there's nothing more to say on that matter then." Turning to the nurse, the doctor said, "Judy, please go inform the office that the patient has awakened and doesn't seem to be experiencing any ill effects to the treatments."

As the nurse left the room, Akira discreetly observed that she had to pass her ID card in front of a small scanner just above the doorknob. _Treatments?!_ For some reason, the very mention of these 'treatments' began to set his rising sense of danger to even greater levels. Something else was going on here, something that he just knew he didn't want to be a part of!

He then watched as the doctor moved over to the desk again, digging through a drawer. "Judging from your coloring," the man said as he extracted a small bottle filled with amber liquid. "you still seem to be experiencing some discomfort from the sedatives we had to give you yesterday."

Okay, this time he could agree with the man, despite how much of an understatement it was. His body was screaming in pain, even if he wasn't. He would love to have been given something to ease the pain he was feeling. However, that ever-present sensation of danger was still there and quickly growing stronger as he wearily watched the doctor pull out a syringe and fill it with the liquid.

"Don't worry about the gun," the doctor said, amusement in his voice as he guessed what 'Yatate' was staring at so intently. "This sedative will only put you to sleep until you've recovered a more natural coloring to your skin."

"No, that's okay," Akira said quietly. "I'm fine."

"Please," the doctor said as he walked over. "I must insist. You really don't look at all well."

"I said I'm fine!" Akira growled, catching the doctor's hand before he could grab Akira's left arm. His danger sense was now screaming even louder in his mind than the burning pain of his body. "Leave me alone."

Rather than answer, the doctor just fought to free his hand from Akira's surprisingly strong grip. Seeing his actions, Akira immediately began wrestling to prevent him from freeing himself. Giving up on freeing himself, the doctor angled his hand to stick the needle into Akira's arm. At the last second, Akira shifted his body and the needle plunged into the doctor's own arm, the amber liquid injecting automatically.

The doctor didn't even have time to draw in a breath to scream. His body seemed to lock up, the syringe gun dropping to the ground from his badly shaking hand. Staring at the man's fear-stricken and pained face, Akira finally felt that strange danger sense lessening as the doctor's body fell the ground, convulsing in nerve spasms and pain.

_That was no __**sedative**_, Akira realized spontaneously. Immediately climbing to his feet and ignoring the burning pain of his muscles, he savagely yanked the IV out of his arm. Wincing at the new pain, Akira awkwardly walked over to the desk in search of some bandages to wrap his bleeding arm up with. Quickly finishing, Akira turned towards the door with every intention of escaping.

After using the doctor's identification card to open the door, Kira started walking down the hallway in an unhurried pace. The hallway was filled numerous doctors, nurses, and patients who were mostly in wheelchairs. Seeing a light at the end of the hallway that seemed natural, Akira moved towards it. His heart was racing in fear, panic, and the burning pain, but he forced himself to continue walking forward towards the light.

Upon entering the sunlight, Akira found himself staring out a large window. He could clearly see a large body of saltwater that ran right up to the edge of the hospital that seemed to be located on the edge of a rocky cliff. He quickly estimated that he was located on either the sixth or seventh floor of the hospital, if the view was any hint to go on.

"Somebody help me!" a loud feminine voice yelled down the hallway that he'd just vacated. "Doctor Strum is convulsing and the patient is missing!"

Not turning to look back at the confusion that was ensuing behind him, Akira walked down the new hallway, following the windows. There had to be an exit around here somewhere.

"Hey, you!" a new voice demanded from somewhere nearby. "What are you doing out here?!" Glancing back, Akira saw a male nurse staring straight at him. "Get back to your room! We haven't—"

His newfound danger sense began to ring again. Security personnel and more doctors were quickly approaching, and some of them were heading towards him, attracted by the nurse's voice. Without a word, Akira launched himself into a pained sprint away from the nurse, cutting the man off in mid-rant.

"Come back here!" the man yelled, immediately giving chase. "Somebody stop him!"

Ignoring the man, Akira continued his pained sprint. He was desperately looking around for a means of escape as he evaded the hospital personnel and patients with an almost scary precision. As he deftly slid past yet another doctor, Akira caught sight of a chair stationed outside a nearby room. _Why not? Desperate times call for desperate measures!_

Swiping the doctor's feet out from under him, Akira smoothly grabbed the chair, whirled around and smashed it against the window. As the glass shattered, Akira's danger sense screamed to life as strong arms latched onto Akira from behind. The person quickly hoisted Akira clear off the floor in an attempt to limit his mobility. However, the man misjudged both Akira's resolve to escape and his flexibility. Lashing out with his feet, Akira's luck held true. His left heel slammed into the man's knee with unnatural strength, snapping it at an unnatural angle and utterly breaking it. Ignoring the man screaming in pain as he fell to the ground, Akira made a frantic dive out of the window.

For the average Natural, such a fall would've certainly killed them if they landed improperly or put them straight back into the hospital. For the average Coordinator, such a fall was survivable, but only the strongest or luckiest could have walked away with only a sprained ankle at the very least. But for Akira, even in as much pain as he was currently, he had angled his dive with the cliff's slope.

As he fell, he awkwardly shifted his body so as to not land on his head. He had just managed to rotate enough to be out of immediate danger when he reached the rocky cliff. After skidding several feet down the rocky surface on his bare feet, he threw himself into a tumble, rolling the rest of the way down to the small beach.

After he finally came to a halt, Akira let out a small sigh of relief. He wasn't in danger anymore…or not nearly as much as the scale that he had been earlier. Tenderly climbing to his bleeding feet, covered in countless scrapes and bruises, he glanced back up at the broken window he'd just leapt from. There were several people staring at him in disbelief and talking amongst themselves. They knew he'd survived, with minimal—if any—injuries.

A sudden spike of pain in his torso forced Akira to momentarily give into it, with him collapsing to his knees as he clenched his burning chest. It took all his willpower to not start screaming from the pain that he was experiencing. Finally, after what felt like hours despite being more seconds, the pain lessened and he was able to climb to his feet and start a stumbling run along the shore in the general direction of Onogoro City business district.

He needed to find clothes, a place to hide, and what was happening. After that, he'd find and repair the Neo Freedom. And then he'd find out what it was that 'Doctor Strum' was going to do with him.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 10, 73 C.E.  
****Onogoro Library, 8:00am**

It was early the next day and he was now dressed in a simple black long-sleeved shirt with some matching pants that he'd pilfered from the trash of a nearby clothing store. The clothing itself wasn't really dirty, or even worn; all that seemed wrong with it was an ugly tear that ran from the collar down towards the right shoulder, exposing his skin. Apparently that little tear had been reason enough for the seller to throw it out. The things that people threw away nowadays! The shoes he was wearing were another story. He had gone to a nearby gym for athletes and stolen a pair of shoes when he found some that matched his feet size. Though he did feel bad about that, the sad fact of the matter was that he was completely broke.

After spending the night sleeping in a motel room that he broke into, Akira was now sitting on a street bench reading a newspaper as he waited for the library to open. Whatever Doctor Strum had done to him in the hospital had worn off because he'd woken up feeling immeasurably refreshed and healthy.

The paper he was reading was a few days old, but it still held some interesting information that he hadn't known. The true extent of the damage done by Junius 7 was positively staggering, leaving Akira with a horrible sense of failure. He couldn't help but think if only…

However, that wasn't the only piece of information that was interesting to him. After he'd started looking for a more recent paper, he'd come across several more articles that surprised him. The first of which was the Neo Freedom's role in attempting to divert the disaster. Despite the important role it played in the event, the apparent return of the Freedom Gundam just wasn't deemed important enough to have even made it into the front page articles. No one on Earth really cared about the sudden return of a single lost person or mobile suit who'd formerly been a potential enemy. There was an enlightening article on page seven, though. The people who wrote the article seemed convinced that the return of the Freedom was a sign; that it was heralding in not only another war, but the return of someone named Kira Yamato, the former pilot of the Freedom. As he read that, Akira couldn't help but snort slightly as he wondered what Kira Yamato would think of this article.

But that wasn't the only thing that interested him. Apparently his little escape from the hospital had attracted the attention of several reporters. Though their theories on the rogue patient were as radical and unfounded as a common tabloid, the one point that they all agreed on was the patient was dangerous to the general public. Did he not inject a very well known and respected doctor of Orb nationality with a lethal dosage of unknown drugs? Did he not also break the leg of a good, honest, and hardworking hospital employee in his desperate escape attempt from a sixth floor of the building? Clearly this man must be some kind of escaped criminal from an insane asylum to do such horrible things!

Oh, the irony was staggering. But then, if it misguided the public into looking for some kind of violent lunatic and not someone of his general description, who was he to correct their mistakes?

The ringing of a bell alerted Akira to the library's opening. Discarding the newspaper, he quickly entered the library and claimed one of the computers for himself. From there, he quickly established a defensive virus that would attack any system that attempted to track his cyberspace trail. Hacking into the multi-layered defensive program of the Orb military network was quite challenging. It took him almost half an hour to fully and safely access the restricted sites after breaking almost a dozen passwords.

_Just as I thought_, he muttered silently to himself. _Orb's trying to locate the Neo Freedom. But it's not where the __**Minerva**__ originally indicated? Someone is either lying in the higher-ups of the Orb military or the Earth Alliance found it first. This isn't good; I didn't have time to put a proper lock on the CPU before I bailed out_.

Snooping around the roster of Orb personnel, Akira came across the record of Doctor William Strum. According to the record, Dr. Strum was an unmarried and highly skilled professor who specialized in and experimented with drugs and their effects on the human body, formerly employed by the Atlantic Federation during the Valentine War.

_Maybe I'll pay a visit to his house later_, Akira decided. _Do some investigating. I bet that he never stopped working for the Alliance_.

Just as he was about to close down the file, a warning sprang to life on the monitor. Someone was attempting to trace him! Reacting immediately as his virus jumped up to defend him, Akira located the hacker and reversed its signal. Riding the signal to its source, Akira found himself browsing through files that were clearly marked as the Prime Minister of the Orb Union, Unato Ema Seiran.

_What does he have to do with this?_ Akira wondered, freely exploring the minister's personal computer. There was a lot of data pertaining to the state of the nation and the state of the world. Opening the Prime Minister's 'little black book,' Akira found himself awash with a lot of information that he didn't understand and a lot that he did.

Minister Seiran had already planned to ally the Orb Union with the Earth Alliance? His son, Yuna Roma Seiran, was scheduled to marry the Chief Representative on the same day as the official treaty signing, the date of the Earth Alliance's scheduled nuclear attack on the PLANTs, and then Yuna would then be 'reelected' to the position of Chief Representative?

Drawing in a sharp breath, Akira couldn't help but stare at the information. How the hell did the Minister hope to get his son elected into the Miss Athha's position when the public clearly adored her? How the hell did the Minister even know for sure that the Alliance would attack the PLANTs with nukes on that specific day?! Not wasting time, Akira immediately printed the schedule so he could ponder its contents later.

_I do __**not**__ like this man_, Akira decided instantaneously as he continued digging deeper into the man's schemes. Deciding that there wasn't anything else of interest on the man's drive, he began searching for any ghost drives and quickly discovered several. The first file caught Akira by surprise. It was the technical, combat, and system data of the Neo Freedom. Seiran's people had found it?! Where was it? What was Seiran planning do with its data? Could Akira somehow recover it?

Akira attacked the ghost drive with a vengeance.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 25, 73 C.E.  
****Morgenroete - Orb Facility, 9:42pm**

Yuna Roma Seiran watched in distaste as the mobile suit continued to drill relentlessly through its complex maneuvers. Though he had no love for combat and pointless training, he always did feel a sense of righteous superiority each time he successfully trounced his enemies in all those combat simulations that his father had raised him in. Perhaps that was where he acquired his general dislike of battle and fear of putting himself into the heart of the conflict.

But, regardless of how he felt in matter, Yuna did silently acknowledge that the pilot of this particular mobile suit was quite skilled. If the damn brat wasn't so hopelessly loyal and dedicated to Cagalli and the Orb Union in general, he would've made a promising candidate for their revamped and quickly-improving Extended program.

"Well this is an unexpected surprise," a feminine voice spoke up from his side. "To what do we owe the honor, Intern Representative?"

"I merely came to inspect the progress of the repairs being done to your newest toy, Mrs. Simmons," he lied smoothly. That was far from being the true reason he had come but it was still something he'd been meaning to check up on. "With the Alliance massing its forces at its lunar base, the possibility of another war breaking out is growing very quickly. Orb will likely need all its resources to protect ourselves in the coming months. And this particular mobile suit just happens to be ranked as one of our best. Though the fact that the pilot has a less than stellar record, especially in terms of his piloting skills with the numerous new models you've built, is quite worrisome."

Putting on a thin smile to hide her distaste, Erica glanced out at the training Fortitude. "While I agree that he does have a habit of crashing our mobile suits, the fact of the matter is that he's young and very skilled for someone of his age group among Naturals. Give him time, proper training, equipment, and a just cause, and I predict that he'll be one of Orb's greatest Natural pilots in five to ten years."

Yuna kept his face empty of any negative reaction towards Erica's praise. The sad fact was that he agreed with her. If only Lieutenant Koenig wasn't so blindly faithful to Cagalli, he would've made a wonderful tool for he and his father.

Rather than answer the Coordinator, Yuna turned to leave, ignoring the lady as she ordered the Lieutenant to finish up for the night. Walking down a series of hallways, Yuna carefully watched everyone who was near him. Timing it just right, he slipped into a specific elevator when no one was watching. After triggering a hidden button, he waited for the secret backdoor to open and then hurried down the hallway that appeared. It was a fairly long walk, but what he saw in the large hangar was exactly what he'd intended to inspect.

Striding into the hangar with all the strut and swagger of an emperor, Yuna surveyed the construction that was taking place in front of him. The twisted and blackened wreck of the Neo Freedom was a thing of the past now. This new machine that he was seeing was an almost perfect replica. All that was needed, as far as he last heard from his father, was someone to reprogram that accursed CPU to accept a Natural pilot. Whoever the previous pilot was, he was certainly a computer expert. The best engineers and computer analysts/hackers they had at their disposal couldn't even begin to comprehend the complex matrices and coded programs that filled the Neo Freedom's memory banks. Sure, they'd been able to copy all the _necessary_ data, but anything else was simply improbable at the moment.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" a familiar drawling voice asked from behind him.

"Indeed it is, father," Yuna agreed easily. "I certainly hope that it will be properly prepared for when Lord Djibril commences the attack."

"Unfortunately, that just isn't possible at this moment," Unato said with a deep frown on his face. "Though we've been able to restore it this far this quickly, it's still angers me that we weren't able to secure the pilot. It would've been so nice to have had him unlock the blasted computer for us."

"Look on the bright side, father," Yuna said, a sneer pulling at his lips. "With the data we did acquire, we will be able to construct our own army of Freedom Gundams in the near-future. And who knows how much the Alliance would pay to get just a glance at that data?"

"You are treading on extremely thin ice if you continue harboring such thoughts, boy," Unato snapped, throwing a glare at his unrepentant son. "Lord Djibril and Alwin Ritter may have entrusted us with this secret project, but to assume that we now control it is foolishness bordering on stupidity! I taught you better than that!"

As his father stalked off, Yuna couldn't help but scowl at his back. How could his father be so blind to the potential profit they could make here?! That man had such minuscule dreams of glamour and power. He wanted to rule the Orb Union as he saw fit, without the useless squabbles of brats like Cagalli. But why not use what they now had to help them eventually rule the world?

Shaking his head piteously, Yuna turned to look back upon the almost-completed Neo Freedom. How much longer would it take for their hackers to finally crack the Gundam's CPU? That was the only thing that was currently preventing them from turning it over to Logos to use as they saw fit.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 29, 73 C.E.  
****Athha Manor - Orb, 6:00am**

Sighing in annoyance, Athrun idly ate his small breakfast while watching numerous news reports from around the world. Things had been steadily progressing for the past month since the Junius 7 drop, and heading towards the worst possible outcome. Despite Durandal's best efforts to maintain the peace between ZAFT and the Alliance, the grief-stricken populaces of Earth were screaming for vengeance of some kind. They wanted to see someone be _severely_ punished for the deaths of their beloved lost friends and family. But there was logically no one to punish left alive, all the terrorists had been killed during the skirmish on the PLANT. Therefore, it was only logical that they'd now turn their desire for vengeance to all Coordinators, regardless of whether they were innocent or not. This was quickly shaping up to be another all-out war, despite everything the PLANTs had done to minimize the inferno of hatred that was consuming a major part of the planet.

In one sense, Athrun was lucky. He didn't have to keep his mind on the matters of the state like Cagalli constantly did. And while he was no less worried than she was, he had other matters to occupy his time; namely the recovery of the wreck of the Neo Freedom. As soon as he'd returned home and met with Lacus to see she and the children were alright, he'd volunteered his services to the Orb navy that had been dispatched to locate the wreck. Since he was quite skilled in the cockpit, Athrun had insisted that he be allowed to pilot one of Orb's few aquatic models.

What he'd found at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean where he knew for a fact that the Neo Freedom had crashed was a lot of upturned seafloor and mud. Apparently the multiple impacts of the Junius 7 debris had badly churned up the oceans' floor; there was a layer of mud and dirt so thick in the underwater currents that visibility had been practically nil. But that hadn't stopped Athrun from painstakingly exploring every square-inch of the seabed in the hopes of stumbling across some sign of the Gundam. All that he found was a rather peculiar looking crater nestled in the sandy seafloor, but there was no Gundam or even any trace of metal that could've hinted at its presence.

The search had been called off almost a week ago. But Athrun wasn't dissuaded. He had known almost immediately that someone else had come before them and taken the wreck, _every single piece_, away for an unknown reason. It was only a suspicion that had no possible logical grounds, but he had shared it with his friends and Cagalli anyway. Despite Cagalli's assurances that Orb hadn't been the one, she agreed with him that someone had clearly taken it away and tried to hide the evidence.

However, the identity of the ones who'd taken the Freedom had long been on the back-burner at this point. The rising crisis between Earth and PLANTs was escalating and without the Freedom to occupy his time, Athrun was once again finding himself in a position that he was growing to hate: useless. He had no real duties to attend to. Whenever he was in Orb with Cagalli, Yuna would always dominate her free time and have his own servants attend to their needs, usually causing Athrun to end up standing in the background.

But there must be _something_ he could do! He was sick and tired of just sitting by and letting others handle these important issues that kept popping up. He wanted to help someone, somewhere, somehow! For Alex Dino, there wasn't a chance of that happening at this point. But…maybe…_Athrun Zala_ might be able to make a difference somewhere…

He needed to go to the PLANTs and talk to Chairman Durandal. That way, regardless of which identity he used, Athrun knew he could get some much needed good advice. His decision had been made before his mind had even fully processed the thought.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**October 31, 73 C.E.  
****Southern Beach - Orb, 12:00am**

The beach was a place of pleasant silence, broken only by the gentle crashing of the waves as they hit the shoreline. The moist night air of mid-autumn was amplified down here at the shoreline, making the comfort temperatures drop several degrees. With the added benefit of the ocean spray, a person could end up getting quite wet and cold quite quickly. But Akira was no more paying attention to the ocean spray that was slowly soaking into his clothes than he was of the falling temperatures along the shoreline.

His gaze was focused solely upon the night skies above him. Somehow, some way, he knew that a battle was taking place up there. Akira didn't know how or why he could suddenly _feel_ all this, only that he now could. And he certainly wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, since this strange sixth sense had saved him from Dr. Strum and his benefactors' nefarious schemes.

Using that sixth sense now, Akira could feel so many countless emotions raging forth up there. He could feel them like the wind and spray on his face. The pulse-pounding fear, nerve-wracking anxiety, vile envy, red-hot anger, blind hatred, giddy rage, and cold resolution to fight, to protect, and to avenge; all of these emotions and urges were cascading down upon him like rain in a typhoon.

Then he saw a series of bright lights begin shining in a pattern that followed a generally straight line. Those lights, mixing from violet-white to neon reds and blues, could be only one thing. Even if he hadn't piggybacked into the man's computer and stolen his data, Akira would've recognized those lights for what they were in an instant: thermal nuclear explosions.

As he continued watching the string of distant explosions light up the night skies in a deceptively beautiful pattern, he felt a new series of emotions reach him. There was a clear set of confidence and triumph erupting from the defenders, once they'd overcome their own awe at the devastation. But prominent among the attackers was fear, confusion, and anger. However, unlike only a few minutes earlier, these emotions were no longer the driving force of the attackers. He could feel their resolve had weakened drastically. They were quickly retreating since they'd clearly anticipated the PLANTs not surviving that direct assault.

"I should've been up there," he said quietly to himself, his gaze still fixated on the spots where the explosions had been. "I should've been…I could've made a difference…I know I could've!"

But the sad fact of the matter was that he was still waiting on Minister Seiran's mechanics to finish repairing the damage done to the Neo Freedom. Ever since he'd discovered that Seiran was having his Gundam repaired, he had been keeping extremely close observation on the man's activities and the progress reports he entered daily into his computer.

Akira had even snuck into Morgenroete to visually confirm to himself that the Neo Freedom was indeed there. It had taken some exploration, but he had eventually found it. Even though Akira had no clear memory prior his awakening two years ago, the obvious familiarity that he'd felt when he reached the Level Four facility was almost frightening to him. Maybe his parents had worked there prior to whatever had happened to him, and they'd allowed him to accompany them to work? Maybe that was where he'd somehow picked up his hidden skills for mobile suit design and computer programming?

Resolving himself to investigate more thoroughly into the matter later, Akira finally turned and left the beach. He had a Gundam to recover, even if it wasn't completely rebuilt when he reached it. He had a war to wage, though against who still remained to be seen.

* * *

**(Author's Note)** I've got a special shout-out here for paintball-gamer. Thanks a million for beta-reading this chapter!

I hope that this chapter turned out better than the previous one. I know I'm stretching things a bit here, namely with Akira suddenly gaining heightened spatial awareness.

But one of the things that I did on purpose here was stretching the timeline for how long it took for the Earth Alliance to gather its forces to attack the PLANTs. I always thought that things were shown to have happened much too quickly in canon, there was no real build up in the suspense or drama. One episode the Atlantic Federation is warning PLANTs to disarm themselves, and in the next episode the Alliance's attack has already been repelled by ZAFT. No build up or anything, just a minor mention of the EA's forces being marshaled to the lunar base, carrying 'spare parts' (aka nuclear missiles) for the attack.


	8. The Rising Storm

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 8: The Rising Storm_

**October 31, 73 C.E.  
Djibril Manor, 12:10am**

To say that the esteemed Lord Djibril was angry would have been an understatement of crippling proportions. He was downright _**furious!**_ How could this have happened?! His _perfect_ plan for wiping out the beasts had failed…and _spectacularly_ at that!

To vent his rage, he was ruthlessly smashing many of his expensive bottles of rare wine to pieces. Where many other people would've been abhorred by these actions of destroying such priceless treasures, he cared as little about the spilled liquid as he did for the immense amount of life lost to the Alliance in this failed attack. They were just expendable assets, very easily replaced when the situation called for it. But no matter how savagely he crushed the bottles and thrashed the small table that held them, his fury did not wane in the least bit.

Behind him, the various other members of Logos watched as their leader smashed things about. Though they shared his fury, it wasn't over the fact that the attack had failed, it was because they each knew that their 'leader' had grossly overestimated the Alliance's tactics and underestimated the Coordinators' own advancement in technology and strategy. And while they each desired those inhumane creatures to be destroyed, for the moment they understood the reality of the situation much better. This was thanks to the fact that they hadn't followed Djibril's example and jumped in with their hopes all based on one attack.

Lucs Kohler was currently ranting at Djibril's back about the state of the world. Due to Djibril's impatient insistence that they proceed directly to a nuclear attack to wipe out the PLANTs in the first engagement, their forces had been completely caught off-guard when ZAFT had retaliated with an unknown weapon. Now the Earth Alliance's morale had plummeted, the population of Earth was in a state of controlled fear and confusion, and the PLANTs were open to counterattack at any time due to the enormous losses the Alliance sustained in the battle. To make matters worse, the Alliance troops who were stationed around ZAFT's Gibraltar and Carpentaria bases hadn't even received any orders due to the immense disorganization and confusion from their superiors.

"So," Kohler demanded in a snide voice. "What do we do _now?_ Who should we hold _responsible_ for this? Was it _your_ fault, Djibril?"

That statement tore through Djibril's rage-clouded mind like a hot knife through butter. Instantly regaining his composure, the Logos leader turned to the hard-faced trillionaire, "That is simply ridiculous. We are at _war! _It is now more essential than _ever_ that we win!"

"And just how do you propose that we do that, Djibril?" Kohler demanded harshly. "That weapon they used—"

"It's no longer a concern of ours!" Djibril interrupted hotly, an ugly sneer pulling at his face as he remembered his contingency plan. "Those monsters may possess that weapon, but my men are already in the process of creating a new weapon that will _crush_ them!"

"Just like how your nuclear-strike plan would crush them?!" Lally McWilliams asked, glaring at Djibril. "What makes you think this new scheme of yours will have any more effect on those beasts than the one we'd just used?"

Walking over to his own monitor, he brought some information that he'd been withholding from the members of Logos up to this point. "Once our technicians have deciphered its CPU, we will attack with an army of these!"

An image of a strange mobile suit flashed up on the screen. After a moment, the Logos members recognized the suit: it was the Neo Freedom.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Shady Oaks Apartments – Onogoro City  
9:30am**

It was all-too-easy to hack into the door's small computer and disable the alarm. Akira entered the apartment without scarcely a sound or the alarm alerting everyone to his intrusion. The apartment was quite clean and tidy, positively shining in wherever the sunlight touched. There was not a single speck of dust, nor a cabinet or drawer left open or exposed, nothing left lying on the floor, or even anything as insignificant as dishes in the sink that needed washing. It was so impeccably clean that it was disgusting, almost enough to cause a person to make a mess so that it seemed more 'natural'.

Treading lightly across the floor, Akira surveyed his surroundings carefully. There didn't seem to be any other alarms or security devices, yet he remained cautious as he approached what looked like the doctor's office. The office, as expected, was filled with an organized mess of countless folders of bills and letters. Paying no attention to the files and folders, Akira went straight for the man's computer.

After deciding that he had waited long enough to steal the Neo Freedom, Akira had also come to a quick realization. Once he stole the Gundam, it would be likely that he'd have to flee Orb entirely so that he could keep it until the time that the Seirans would call off whatever search or mercenaries that they may send after him. Because of that, he probably wouldn't be able to do this investigation of Doctor William Strum. So he decided to start now, while he still had the chance.

To be sure that the 'good doctor' wouldn't discover his intrusion into his home, Akira had been forced to create a disguise. He was now a blond-haired, blue-eyed Coordinator when he had visited the same hospital that he'd escaped from. He'd quickly hacked into one of the employee's computers when they'd left for a short break. That was how Akira discovered that Doctor Strum had been transferred to the Orb Emergency Medical Facility shortly after his tussle with Akira. Whatever the drug was that doctor had intended to give Akira seemed to be having a truly adverse effect on his unprepared body. Even though he didn't understand a lot of the technical terms that the report on the man's condition used, he got the gist of it: he was slowly dying of the massive overdose of whatever the drug was.

Hacking into Strum's computer was an exercise in boredom due to how pathetically easy it was. But once he was in, bored he was not. Starting simple, Akira brought up the man's online bank accounts and analyzed his income revenue. What he discovered was something that he'd suspected before; the man was quite rich, surpassing even what Akira had suspected. The money was scattered throughout several accounts that were each under a different name, the final total being near ten million! He was also receiving a lot of extra money from somewhere else as well, but the accounts gave no name or reason for the large deposits that were made into the doctor's different identities. That was suspicious enough, but not enough to warrant any _true_ blame unto the man.

Next, Akira explored the man's personal files. Most of what he found was a lot of technical and scientific dribble that he could make no sense of. However, there were quite a few diagrams and examination pictures of the various 'subjects' he'd used.

Akira was not normally someone who had a weak stomach, but the many pictures he was seeing were enough to churn his gut and give him slightly nauseous head-spins. Pictures of unnatural swelling in various parts of the human body, generally around the arm and leg joints, massive bruising, skin shades that were practically every color of the rainbow except the one that they should've been, adults and children, boy and girl alike, were shown to have been losing or gaining immense hair growth, having glazed or bloodshot eyes, rotting teeth and swelling lips. There were so many repulsive images that Akira was forced to shut down the displays. What kind of man could do that to people?!

Finally, he found something that gave him some much-needed answers. It was clearly the man's journal, dated as far back as May 40 C.E., when the man was only twenty years old. Gazing over the man's documentation of his life and gradually his work, Akira found himself having less and less reason to feel any regret or sympathy towards the old man that now lay dying in a hospital bed. The man was a complete hypocrite of staggering proportions. He was a Coordinator born and raised in the Orb, had a sick fascination with drugs and medical experimentation on the human body, and had no qualms against experimenting on people with his untested products. However, ten years before the Valentine War began, the Atlantic Federation had come to him with the proposition of funding his research should he agree to aid their own top-secret research on creating drug-enhanced soldiers that could compete with his fellow Coordinators.

And he'd _agreed!_

However, shortly before the war had ended, something had happened and he'd been fired. Ever since then, he'd been working on his own research, attempting to create a new drug for the Alliance that would get him back into their good graces and allow him to continue his research with the proper funds. His own experimentation, probably all those pictures that Akira had seen earlier, had apparently not been going too well due to the poor victims' bodies being completely unable to adapt to whatever he'd forced upon them while using the excuse of giving them 'sedatives' to help them recover more quickly. There were no fatalities _yet_, but the side-effects had been steadily becoming more and more severe.

And then he'd come across some kind of breakthrough. The drug he'd created had given the victim extremely heightened reflexes and strength, but only for a short amount of time before wearing off, generally three hours at most. Strum had been working on a newer, _far_ more potent version on it that was suppose to last much longer, supposedly for years at a time. Then he'd come across what seemed to be the perfect 'specimen,' a young man who'd been found washed up on the shore…

"_ME?!_" Akira cried reflexively.

Apparently, blood tests that Strum had done on Akira had shown that his body could and would incorporate the drug into his system, enhancing both his own body and the drug's effect greatly! It took all of Akira's self-control to prevent him from lashing out at something to vent his anger. He was _not_ a _lab rat! _This man, William Strum, was going to pay for this! Literally!

Opening a link to the Orb bank, Akira quickly created a bank account under a false identity, complete with a fake past that would make the account seem twenty years older. Then he hacked into Strum's numerous accounts and transferred all of the corrupt doctor's money into his new account before erasing his cyber trail. The doctor was dying anyway, with no immediate family still left alive or any children, so his property and affects would be seized by the state upon his death.

Why not put his funds to use doing something much more…noble than torturing his fellow man?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Minister Seiran's Office  
10:00am**

Unato Ema Seiran let out a sigh of annoyance. Things were not going very well, certainly not as well as he'd hoped at this point. Due to the brat Athha's stubborn refusals, he was having a hard time convincing the other cabinet members to side with him. Yes, they agreed with him that an alliance with the Atlantic Federation would give them added protection from a repeat of the last war. But they still held a great deal of resentment towards the Alliance. As long as that Athha brat remained firm, so would a fair portion of them. And that was simply unacceptable!

He had never been closer to achieving his plans for turning the illustrious nation of Orb into a perfect and_ pure_ society, a society where its citizens would not ever need to fear beasts who could snap their necks in the dark night without even straining. Of course, he was extremely careful to keep his personal feelings hidden on the matter. That perfect mask was what had allowed him to rise through the ranks of society to this prominent and powerful position. All that was needed now was to gradually remove his opposition, chief among them being the Coordinator-loving Athha brat. And the arranged wedding was only the first step towards doing that.

Of course, once he'd finally gotten his nation to be a part of the Alliance, he was going to need some serious military firepower to back up his schemes. And that Coordinator bitch he had serving as Morgenroete's lead designer and mechanic was producing some very good mobile suit models. However, he knew that they would never be able to stand up to the mobile suits that had been dubbed _Gundams_. Seiran wanted a military force filled with these powerful Gundams to purify his nation. And it was here that he found himself torn. Like his son had constantly been telling him, an army of Freedom Gundams would have been an unstoppable force. But because he had been merely entrusted by Lord Djibril to repair and reprogram the Freedom, he could not follow through on his desires. Unlike his impatient son, Unato knew his own limits far better.

However, where he could not keep the Freedom itself for further research and development, the data they'd acquired on it could provide some vital engineering breakthroughs on any upcoming models they'd build. It was this reason that Seiran wouldn't attempt to put up more of a fight when the time came for him to transfer it to Logos. And he was quite sure that Djibril suspected such foul play from him.

And yet, lately, his best computer hackers had been running into a severe problem. Each time they attempted to hack into the coded data (whether it was the actual CPU or copied versions of it), a virus had begun jumping up and creating a series of cascading programs that would utterly lock up any computer or super computer that was being used. The only way to free the computers was to completely reboot them, erasing all data they contained. Nothing they tried yet had been able crack the virus and allow them a deep view into the schematics of the legendary mobile suit. It was completely frustrating!

A beeping noise on his computer interrupted Unato's thoughts and drew him back into reality. A priority message from an unknown sender? Doing a quick scan for viruses, Unato opened it to see a video screen appear with an all-too-familiar face.

"Prime Minister Seiran, the time has come," Alwin Ritter said bluntly, "Lord Djibril wants to transfer the Neo Freedom to Heaven's Base where his mechanics will finish any remaining repairs that are necessary."

Nodding his head submissively, Unato said, "Of course. However, I'm afraid that to move it now would be most unwise for us. The state of the nation is restless after that attack last night and my engineers claim that they are nearly finished repairing the basic propulsion systems. Another week is all that's needed for them to finish."

Pausing to consider, Ritter stared sternly at the Minister. Exercising his perfect control to hide anything that may hint at deception, Unato stared impassively back at the merchant of death. After carefully considering the proposition, Ritter nodded his head, "That will do. See to it that your men have the Gundam properly prepared for the transfer in _five_ days."

Holding back the urge to scowl, Unato nodded his head again. When he'd returned his gaze to the video screen, the screen had gone blank.

"Why, Father, I'm surprised at you," Yuna's sneering voice spoke up from the open doorway. "And here you are always telling me that we don't own the _specimen_, and yet I know for a fact that it's nearly finished in its repairs."

"We may not hold any rights to it," Unato pointed out in a calm voice without even gracing his son in looking at him. "But that certainly doesn't mean that we can't acquire some further information into its abilities before we hand it over."

"Oh, I see," Yuna's sneer widened as his father's scheme finally made sense to him. "That's so underhanded, father," he praised. Perhaps his father wasn't as closed-minded as he had thought.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Seaside Mall – Onogoro City  
2:00pm**

Pushing the cart idly through the aisles, the faux-blond Coordinator surveyed the items on sale with a critical eye. Now that he had money, he was rapidly stocking up on supplies necessary for when he had to live on the run with his Gundam. Currently resting in the cart were a few new pairs of clothes, toiletries, and a large backpack.

The aisle he was standing in was filled with many different types of computers, desktops and laptops alike. The one he was looking at was rather promising. It was a small one, the monitor was barely ten inches, but the memory space on it was acceptable. Combine that with a few other gadgets and gizmos he was about to purchase and this would be his primary weapon for when he began his more active role in the war.

Curious about its performance capabilities, Akira booted it up. Expertly hacking into its system, he easily disabled the safety program that the store had installed on it and began running through a series of special tests on it database. Scrolling through the information, Akira smiled to himself. Yes, this one would do just fine.

Quickly repairing the damage he'd done to the security system before anyone noticed, Akira shut down the computer and selected one of the boxes under it, carefully placing it in his cart. Next, he bought several additional memory blocks that were several times larger than the small laptop's space, as well as a special satellite dish that could attach him to the wireless internet anywhere on the planet with a scrambled signal. Maybe he could modify it to enhance that scrambling signal?

Throwing his various purchases into his new backpack for easier transport, Akira scratched his blond hair as he tried to think up anything else that he'd need. Weapons were something that he'd definitely need, but he wasn't planning on storming into Morgenroete…only on the way _out_. But still…a pistol, at the very least, would be helpful if things went pear-shaped.

Sighing heavily to himself, Akira stalked over to the small hunting store called Scheels. He'd need ammunition, a carrying case, and maybe he should look into getting a mask while he was there. No need to let the Orb military get a look at his current disguise and force him to create a new one, after all.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**November 1, 73 C.E.  
Outside Orb territorial waters, 7:05am**

He didn't like what was happening. _Not one bit!_

It was still very early in the morning, the sun having risen only half an hour ago. The blinding glare on the water was hampering visibility slightly, but he could still clearly see what was happening out there. And he understood why it was happening, too. Somehow, Cagalli had allowed herself to be manipulated into allowing the Orb Union to join the Earth Alliance. Though the treaty still hadn't technically been signed, this decision had made them an instant enemy of ZAFT. Apparently the crew of the _Minerva_ had realized what would've happened if they'd stuck around the port and finished their nearly-complete repairs.

Tolle had been awakened at five in the morning due to an emergency scrambling of the military. That was a good hour earlier than what he usually woke up at, so he was quite irritable when he arrived at the station. It was then that he was given the news; the _Minerva_ was leaving port without having consulted anyone for permission. And since they were about to become allies with the Alliance, the Orb government had temporarily renewed its old policy of neutrality.

Now a considerable portion of the Orb Navy and mobile suit forces were stationed at the borders of the Orb Union's territorial waters. Their job was to not allow either the Earth Alliance or the _Minerva_ back into their territory. If that were the only thing that they were here for, Tolle wouldn't have given the job much thought or concern. But the fact that the Earth Alliance had sent a large fleet out to destroy the _Minerva_ as soon as it left Orb's territory was another matter all together!

And now he was expected to just sit back and watch as the Alliance sunk the ship?!

Closing his eyes, Tolle couldn't help but think one thing: _What would you do, Kira?_ He knew the answer to that question, almost without needing to ask. But…if he did it, he'd most assuredly get into deep trouble when he came back. _However_…

It was the _right_ to do.

Eyes snapping open, Tolle's hands flew over the controls, initiating the start-up sequence. As he brought the Fortitude out of its standby mode, he surveyed the battlefield ahead of him. The Impulse was flying around destroying the Alliance's new Windam mobile suits, and the _Minerva_'s other two ZAKU Warriors were standing on opposing sides of the ship blasting at Windams that came too close. The _Minerva_ itself was doing an admirable job protecting itself, so that left just getting rid of the fleet and the Windams with Shinn for him.

Powering up the Fortitude's boosters, Tolle opened a channel to the CIC of the carrier he was stationed on. "This is Tolle Koenig. I'm launching to aid the _Minerva_'s escape." He quickly shut down the radio frequency as he blasted off the carrier. Behind him, multiple Murasame and Astrays were scrambling to power up and launch, most likely to bring him back.

If he were in an ordinary mobile suit like the Murasame, they probably could've caught up to him. However, the Fortitude had a special little system installed in it that he rarely utilized. Smirking to himself, Tolle turned and quickly brought the Voiture Lumiere propulsion system online. Immediately, he could hear a comforting hum starting to sound through his cockpit. Once it'd sufficiently charged itself, he punched the throttle.

To the Murasame and Astrays trying to intercept him, all they saw was a sudden bright flare of the Fortitude's engines. What immediately followed was not only a slightly disorienting afterimage effect that Voiture Lumiere system yielded, but the recklessly attacking mobile suit seemed to vanish in a burst of speed that none of them could hope to keep up with.

Pressed back heavily into his seat, Tolle fought against the massive G-forces to keep the Fortitude flying in the direction he wanted. It was these incredible G-forces that always prevented the young Lieutenant from using the special engine systems as often as he'd have liked. If he wasn't extremely careful, he could pass out from the immense power that was emitted. Of course, that usually happened more often when he pushed the power output to over sixty percent its total thrust capabilities. That was why he only used it as a desperate, last resort when he needed to cover a lot of distance in a hurry.

Letting out a loud whoop of exhilaration, Tolle came streaking into the mass of fighting mobile suits in a blinding blaze of light and speed. "Let's party, boys!"

Dashing forward with a beam saber in each hand, Tolle sliced three Windams to pieces before they even knew was there. Swooping down, he brought the sabers down in a chop and slashed the Jet Striker's wings off of a fourth Windam, sending the mobile suit plummeting towards the ocean below. A sudden impact on his left side had Tolle rapidly dodge away, clearly evading any more sucker-shots the Windam pilots were going to take. Exchanging one of his sabers in favor of his rifle, Tolle sent his own shots back at his attacker, destroying its headpiece.

"_The Fortitude?_" a semi-familiar voice said over the radio. "_Lieutenant Koenig, is that you?_"

"Hey there, Miss ZAFT Red!" Tolle called out as he shot down two more Windams with one shot. "How's it going?"

"_I thought I told you not to call me that!_" Lunamaria snapped, venting her impulsive anger by destroying another attacking enemy with her heavy cannon.

"Oh sorry, _Miss Red ZAKU_," Tolle teased as he spun around and swung his saber at the Windam that was trying to sneak up on him.

"_What are you doing here?!_" Shinn growled hatefully as he opened visual communications so he could properly express his anger. "_Orb's allied with the Earth Alliance now!_"

"Well, _technically_, Orb hasn't signed the treaty yet, so we're still neutral," Tolle pointed out, grinning widely. "And do I _really_ seem like the perfect soldier who obeys every order _without_ question?" As if to punctuate his question, he turned and destroyed a Windam that was about to shoot the Impulse in the back. "Besides, I _hate_ the Atlantic Federation!"

"_We don't need your help!_" Shinn yelled. The Impulse spun around and destroyed three more Windams in rapid succession.

"That's not _my_ opinion," Tolle countered easily.

A sudden blast by the _Minerva_'s Tannhauser positron cannon, followed quickly by a massive explosion, quickly drew the attention of all combatants on the battlefield. When the fire, smoke, and mist died down, they were treated to a horrifying sight. A strange new mobile armor was floating protectively in front of the Earth Alliance fleet, a large glowing shield of light shining proudly in the morning light.

"_It deflected the __**Tannhauser**__?_" Shinn gawked. "_What the hell is that thing?!_"

"I know what it is…" Tolle growled, deathly serious at the sight of what was clearly a powerful enemy. After his near-death in a Skygrasper, Tolle had developed a very powerful hatred of mobile armors due to their tendency of being underpowered, underequipped, and slower than a snail in regards to the maneuverability that a mobile suit provided. "_Mine!_" Blasting the Fortitude towards the mobile armor in a blinding streak of light, Tolle fired his rifle at it relentlessly.

The pilot of the armor easily spotted the bright white light trail that was shining from the backside of the Fortitude racing towards it. With a surprising amount of agility for something so massive, the armor dodged to the side as it sent a shower of beams towards the Gundam. It was only thanks to the fact that Tolle didn't have time to shut down the Voiture Lumiere, the Fortitude reacting and traveling at speeds that he normally couldn't sustain, that he managed to evade.

With a loud battle cry, the Impulse came rushing forward at its own best possible speed, firing just as relentlessly as Tolle had been. However, the strange armor merely rolled slightly and the Impulse's shots were deflected by the shield that it was still using. Dodging to the side as it angled its forward cannons, Shinn growled in anger as he evaded the energy blasts. Rushing forward in hopes of being able to use his beam saber on it directly, he glared as his enemy brought out a pair of heat claws in preparation for close quarters combat.

Swooping down along the ocean surface in his own mobile armor mode, Tolle let loose a volley of his Hayate missiles at the Alliance armor's underbelly. In response, the two rear energy cannons shifted and a spray of Igelstellungs shot forth and destroyed the four missiles. Deftly evading the twin high-power energy blasts that followed, the Fortitude changed back into a mobile suit and peppered the thing's belly with rifle-fire as the Impulse dodged and fired upon it from above.

The result of this battle between the three of them might have been very different had Captain Todaka not chosen that moment to issue a warning to _Minerva_ about reentering Orb's waters, followed shortly by warning shots at the water near the ZAFT warship. Distracted by Orb's deliberate attack on his ship, Shinn was easily captured in one of the claws of the armor. Before he could react, the armor swung him around and sent him crashing down upon the Fortitude, knocking both Gundams down towards the ocean.

In his cockpit, Tolle had been violently knocked around by the impact of the Impulse, his head slamming painfully into his starboard monitor. Various alarms sounded throughout the cockpit as damage reports flooded through the display monitor at his knees. But he wasn't able to even consider looking at them as the G-forces of the plummet began pulling at his body. He found himself unable to fight against the blackness that was rapidly consuming his vision.

_He was a technical college student, running for his life as ZAFT mobile suits began attacking his home. Then a large white and blue mobile suit appeared over him, moving awkwardly as the attacking GINN made vicious moves against it. As the GINN was about to impale the white suit, a single thought had gone through his mind. He couldn't prevent the white suit from falling… because he was a useless bystander…_

_He was a volunteer navigator onboard the __**Archangel**__, watching the bloody battle between the three Earth Alliance ships and the numerous ZAFT mobile suits. With a massive explosion, the largest and last remaining of the Alliance ships was destroyed. A loud, horrified cry filled the bridge behind him as Flay Allster degraded into a convulsing mass of grief and despair. Her father had just been killed… and he hadn't been able to prevent it… because he was a useless navigator…_

_He was the pilot of the mobile armor FX-550 Skygrasper, watching the vicious battle between the three remaining stolen Gundams and Kira. The pilots were attacking with a new level of ruthlessness, likely caused by the death of their comrade in the previous encounter. Kira was being hard-pressed to fight them off by himself. He had needed help; help that Tolle was all too glad to give. But as the shield closed in on his fighter with frightening speed, he knew he wouldn't be able to entirely dodge it, despite his frantic attempts. He was going to die… because he was a useless mobile armor pilot…_

_He was the pilot of an M1 Astray, and the ferocious battle that was raging around him was rapidly coming to a head. He didn't know how he knew; just that something was telling him that it was almost over. From his position near the massive GENESIS superweapon, he watched in awe as Kira battled the bulky ZAFT Gundam with agility and precision that was deceiving in how easy Kira was making it seem. But when Kira's luck took a turn for the worst, Tolle launched his Astray into the battle without even the faintest hesitation. Despite his good intentions, he was helpless against the ZAFT Gundam's DRAGOONs. It took a selfless act from Kira to save his life, leading up to them being unable to find Kira after the GENESIS superweapon exploded… because he was a useless Astray pilot…_

_**I'M NOT USELESS ANYMORE!!!**_

Something exploded in the back of Tolle's mind as time and reality righted themselves. Reacting with newfound reflexes, Tolle boosted the Voiture Lumiere system, using the incredible thrusting capabilities to slow his descent and launch him into a controlled flight along the ocean's surface. Above him, the Impulse mimicked his maneuver. Both Gundams suddenly were flying side by side across the ocean in perfect synchronization. The sudden change of flight saved both Gundams from being blown to pieces by the armor's follow-up attack with all four energy cannons on its legs.

The Impulse flew off towards the _Minerva_, with Shinn demanding that Meyrin prepare something called the 'Deuterion Beam' and some replacement parts for the ones that had been damaged. Without much regard to the G-forces pulling at his body, Tolle pushed the Fortitude's Voiture Lumiere engines up to seventy percent as the armor soared after the fleeing Gundams. The assortment of afterimages greatly confused the crew of the armor as the gunners attempted to get a lock on the Gundam as it came rushing towards them, beam rifle raised and ready. With pinpoint precision that outshone his usual performance capabilities, Tolle's shots hit the vulnerable joints of the energy cannons near the main body, rendering it useless.

It was at this point that the newly-recharged Impulse dropped down from the sky, impaling the cockpit of the armor with its beam saber. Without any sense of pity for the crew, Tolle and Shinn watched the armor fall into the ocean, where it exploded. Turning their attentions towards the fleet, the two frenzied pilots didn't even need to communicate with one another: Shinn would take the left, Tolle would take the right.

As the Impulse quickly exchanged Silhouettes, Tolle blasted the Fortitude towards the Alliance fleet. Drawing both his beam sabers, he was easily able to dodge the ships' missiles thanks to the afterimage effect. It was with cold precision that he sank his sabers into the hulls of the ships he landed on, resulting in either the explosion of its supply of weaponry or rapid sinking due to the massive hull damage they sustained. With the combined efforts of the Fortitude and Impulse, the entire fleet was completely destroyed in less than two minutes.

As the last of his enemies were rendered powerless under his strength, Tolle's glazed eyes finally cleared and he came back to himself, panting heavily from the immense strain that he'd just endured. As he and Shinn hovered over the wreckage of the fleet they'd destroyed, a familiar alarm began to sound in his cockpit. The Fortitude had finally reached critical levels of power. He needed to land immediately.

Turning to face Shinn, Tolle opened visual communications with him. "Shinn, great work out here." Smiling in a bitter way, he nodded in acknowledgement of his fellow pilot's skills. "I hope we don't ever have to meet on the battlefield, you'll probably win."

Snorting loudly at the compliment, Shinn resolutely looked away from the monitor as he launched his Impulse flying towards the _Minerva_. Though he didn't want to admit it, even to himself, a compliment from a war veteran such as Tolle made him feel a little awkward. Shaking his head powerfully to get the feeling out his head, Shinn forced himself to remember his hatred of Orb and all its corrupt citizens. "_I __**didn't**__ need your help, Koenig!_"

Transforming the Fortitude into its plane form, Tolle flew past Shinn with a wide sneer. As he past the _Minerva_ and Lunamaria's red ZAKU, he called out, "Safe sailing, _Minerva_! And don't let the Impulsive idiot's head swell too much, Miss Red ZAKU."

"_One of these days I'm going to slap you silly, Lieutenant!_" Lunamaria yelled, anger and embarrassment clear in her voice.

"I'll be looking forward to it!" he sneered, sending the Fortitude into a spin to show off his giddiness at the future prospect.

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Captain Gladys could only silently shake her head in amusement at the antics of the Orb Lieutenant. She knew that he wasn't going to be getting a hero's welcome when he returned to his ship as Shinn likely would, but he had certainly earned her respect and gratitude. She could now more easily understand why he, with all the odd quirks she heard about and his brash attitude, was considered among one of the heroes of the Bloody Valentine War.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

_**Asanagi**_**, **_**Aegis**_**-class Orb sea battleship  
Orb territorial waters, 7:50am**

As soon as Tolle had landed the Fortitude onto the deck of the ship he'd been temporarily assigned to and exited his beloved Gundam, he'd been arrested by the soldiers aboard. Since he had intentionally and knowingly disobeyed a direct order to not interfere in the battle that was taking place, Tolle made no excuse and no move to fight back as he was taken straight to the commander of the fleet, Captain Todaka.

The elder captain stared down at the rebellious pilot with a gaze of carefully concealed pride. What this boy had done, even if it was against orders, was exactly what he himself had wished to do. The ZAFT warship had been responsible for not only aiding in the destruction of Junius 7, but it had also safeguarded Representative Athha during the skirmishes that it had been forcefully involved in. That ship and its crew, more than any other, deserved their aid and cooperation. And yet he and his fleet had been ordered to stand by and guard their borders against its return? If it were up to Captain Todaka, he would've given the young pilot a medal for valor and honor.

But as it was, he had to keep his persona cool and professional as he looked down upon a soldier who had disobeyed orders.

"Do you have an explanation for your actions, Lieutenant?" he asked, his voice strictly neutral. "Our nation is about to sign a treaty that will ally us to the nations of the ships and mobile suits that you'd just destroyed. Your actions here this morning may have just cost us the treaty and pushed the Alliance to attack us."

The scarred Lieutenant's expression of resolute determination did not falter in the least. Though his eyes did take on a more subtly firm gaze as Todaka mentioned the treaty.

"Is that what you were intending, Lieutenant?" Todaka demanded. "To make enemies of our soon-to-be allies?"

"Not at all, sir," Lieutenant Koenig answered with crisp military precision. "Nor was it my intention to endanger our nation in any way. However, to allow the Earth Alliance to sink the _Minerva_ would've been dishonorable. Thus, I was merely doing what I felt was _right_."

"Lieutenant, until further notice, you are hereby removed as the pilot of the Fortitude Gundam," Captain Todaka stated, noticing a violent twitch over Tolle's eye as he passed judgment on him. He knew the boy loved the mobile suit; he had frequently spent quite a bit of time bragging to the other mobile suit pilots about the Fortitude's capabilities in the lounge. "You will report to the military headquarters to explain your actions and they will decide your punishment for disobeying orders."

Recognizing the dismissal, the Lieutenant and his guards threw crisp salutes to the captain before exiting the bridge without comment. As he was turning his gaze back towards the shrinking form the ZAFT warship, Todaka was far from surprised to hear a _very_ loud scream of rage and frustration coming from just outside the bridge. Sighing quietly to himself, Todaka began issuing orders to return the _Asanagi_ to port.

Outside, Tolle was gripping the railing with an iron grip to keep himself from doing anything he knew he would further regret later. He understood that Captain Todaka was only being a professional, he _understood_… But to take _Fortitude_ away?! It was with a newfound level of self-discipline that Tolle forced himself to walk away.

As he was walking back to the deck to guard his…former Gundam, a stray thought reached him. _That Seiran bastard is going to __**love**__ this!_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**November 2, 73 C.E.  
Near Waltfield/Ramius Manor, 5:00am**

With the silence of a professional assassin, the team of ten ZAFT Special Forces reached the shore of the island that their target had relocated to. After using their ASH mobile suits to sneak into the borders of the Orb Union and to arrive at their target's new residence, they had brought out the scuba equipment and swam ashore.

If at all possible, they were going to strike fast and silently, eliminating the target in her sleep. Then they were to vanish, leaving no trace either that she had died or that they had ever been there. Of course, if by some chance things didn't go according to plan, the ASHs' would be perfect for causing a lot of damage in a hurry, likely killing the target as she attempted to flee.

However, regardless of what happened, they weren't leaving this island until they'd completed their mission. Or they wouldn't be leaving at all. So it was with deadly precision and near-perfect stealth that the team of ten Coordinators rushed towards the large manor, eager to complete their objective.

Unknown to the Coordinators, a certain pink Haro had just detected their trespass and alerted the people inside of their presence.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Morgenroete – Orb Facility  
5:00am**

If he had never been one to believe in coincidences or fate before, Akira certainly found himself beginning to now. Despite the extremely early hour in the morning, it had been pathetically easy to infiltrate the facility a second time. The staff were undermanned due to the early hour, security was at its all-time low, and there was an eerie silence that hung heavily through the halls like a velvet blanket. It was almost enough to make him believe that no one else was here and that he didn't need to worry about running into anyone and having them recognize that they didn't recognize him.

But that ever-present sixth sense of danger had been steadily rising ever since he'd reached Level Four. Upon reaching the elevator that he knew would take him to the secret part of the facility, that danger sense finally flared to life and he now understood why it had been tingling up to this point. Without even needing to open the secret door, he knew that there were still personnel working on the Neo Freedom.

Backing away from the secret entrance, he carefully considered his options. It would be easiest for him if the mechanics and computer hackers would just leave so he could at least get to the Neo Freedom without any opposition. However, according to the report that Seiran had filed into his journal last night, that wasn't likely to happen. They were getting extremely desperate to finally hack the CPU and discover what the secret was that was being so passionately shielded by that virus. So, unless he went charging with a squad of soldiers and guns blazing, there was no chance that he safely recover his Gundam.

But what if… he created an emergency?

Smirking to himself, he quickly doubled back to where he had seen a set of alarms. Upon reaching it, he smashed the glass casing and triggered the 'biohazard' button. Almost instantly, a near-deafening alarm blared to life with spinning red lights shining to life throughout the entire facility.

Ducking into a nearby lab, he listened and waited patiently. And just as he'd hoped, the elevator suddenly let out a gentle ding as it began to ascend. Closing his eyes and trying to 'reach out' with his danger sense, he could still feel several others waiting just beyond the elevator for it to return. Smiling broadly, Akira was fast to jump out of his hiding place and make his way towards the secret hangar as the elevator quickly returned and then left once again, carrying the remaining people up to the surface.

Pulling open the doors, he jumped over the large hole that was usually occupied by the elevator. Balancing on his toes on the extremely narrow landing he had available, he pried open the secret doorway and rolled through the small space provided.

Dashing to his feet, Akira sprinted down the long hallway and burst into the hangar. As he'd hoped, there seemed to be no lingering mechanics. Sprinting forward, he jumped onto the lift and raised it up to the repaired Gundam's cockpit. Even in his hurry to get inside, Akira couldn't help but notice several things were different about the Neo Freedom's figure. The wings were no longer were the faded orange of the _Early Harvest_, but the proud blue that they had originally been. And the shield-rifle that had originally been used by the Calamity Gundam was missing, replaced by what seemed to be an exact replica of the Freedom's original shield.

Akira couldn't help but scowl slightly. If they'd taken the liberties to make _those_ changes, what else had they done to his Gundam?! Stowing his backpack with its supplies into a hidden compartment behind the pilot's seat, he rapidly strapped himself in and booted up the CPU.

"Radiation levels are optimal," he muttered to himself. "Mirage Colloid, inoperable. Weapons systems, restored, calibrations not set. Phase Shift Armor, online. Damage assessment, marginal. Neo Freedom is capable of eighty-three percent of potential combat ability."

Bringing up the OS, he attacked it viciously to calibrate the many weapons and survey the status what the hackers had been attempting to accomplish. In their desperation to crack the Neo Freedom's database, they'd all by torn the OS to pieces, forcing Akira to now completely rewrite it. The entire process took approximately five minutes, which was four minutes and thirty seconds too long for Akira.

Finally regaining at least a margin of the fine-tuned control that his Gundam had formerly had, Akira raised its arms and pushed the several catwalks away to allow it free movement. Taking a few experimental steps forward, Akira was fast to add even more specified details to the OS. Once satisfied that he had gotten it to work as closely as it had previously been in such a short time, Akira turned to face the large hangar doors. They were multi-layered, steel-reinforced and currently sealed shut tight. Only some heavy duty firepower would be able to break through those.

Smirking, Akira swung the Balaena plasma cannons and the Xiphias rail cannons forward. It took only three full power blasts before the doors finally gave way and were blasted open in a violent shower of debris and smoke. Gunning the Neo Freedom's thrusters, he launched himself out of the opening into the darkness of the world beyond.

Upon clearing the smoke below, the Neo Freedom swung its wings open and put on a powerful display of reincarnation as Akira surveyed the scene. The entire Morgenroete facility was alight with emergency floodlights, crews of personnel running about in random directions. Several large vehicles had been pulled up to the many hangars and people wearing thick biohazard suits were preparing to enter the numerous buildings. With the sudden explosion and flight of the Neo Freedom, all eyes were locked solely upon the legendary Gundam.

Closing its wings, the Neo Freedom turned and flew off in a random direction at high speeds, flying close to the ground to help hide its presence. He let out a sigh of relief that he'd been holding as he safely exited Onogoro City with no resistance. Apparently, the little 'biohazard emergency' he'd created hadn't been enough to warrant any attention by the military. If they hadn't sent any of their own mobile suits upon it by the time that he'd left Onogoro City, they wouldn't be able to catch up to him at all. This sense of relief accompanied Akira as he flew his Gundam over the hills and down towards the beach on the far side of the island.

As he was in the process of flying out to sea and towards the Asian continent, he felt…something. It was hard to explain, only that he felt…_another_. Another presence, one that he was almost certain could feel him. And it felt…young, _very_ young…and _very_ scared. Scared of what?

Almost without a conscious decision on his part, Akira slowed the speeding Gundam and turned it to fly towards where he sensed the other's fearful presence. He didn't even question why he felt this strong compulsion to follow and seek out the presence, only that he wanted to.

Swinging around a cliff, he discovered in an instant just why the presence he was feeling was so scared. There was a group of seven ASH mobile suits firing relentlessly into the burning debris of what had clearly been a very nice mansion or manor of some sort. Scowling deeply, Akira readied for battle, snatching up a pair of beam sabers.

He struck fast and without warning. Coming up behind the two who were the farthest in the back, he slashed their mobile suits' legs out from under them, causing the pair to collapse lopsidedly on the ground. Landing in the midst of the five remaining ASHs, he threw the beam sabers he was using to the sides, the sabers burying themselves into his targets' headpieces with pinpoint precision, utterly removing them from battle. Next, he cast both the Neo Freedom's shields out. The large shield smashed into one ASH, knocking it off balance and crippling its starboard missile launcher pack. The smaller shield, with its beam claws active, shot straight through the other ASH unit's head piece and then circled around and destroyed its missile launcher packs before returning to the Neo Freedom's arm.

Jumping forward itself, the Neo Freedom drew its two shoulder beam sabers and slashed downward. The ASH units in front of it were cut cleanly into two pieces. Sheathing the sabers, it brought up its beam rifle as it turned to face the last remaining undamaged ASH. This one had finally reacted to the appearance of an unexpected enemy by launching a series of missiles. With reflexes far superior to an ordinary pilot, Akira dodged the missiles by launching himself into the air. With only three shots, he brought the attacking ASH down.

Settling down onto the ground, he watched as the one ASH that hadn't been too severely damaged climbed back onto its feet and attempted to blast him with its maser cannons. Glaring coldly at the aggressive ASH, Akira took great pleasure in destroying its weapons and then its legs, forcing it to collapse onto the ground along with its fellow comrades. They were defeated, he knew it and they knew it.

Then, catching him by surprise, all seven ASH mobile suits self-destructed without any hesitation at all.

* * *

**(Author's Note) **Big time thanks to **Paintball Gamer** for the beta-review! I know you're very busy, and having to contend with at least one other story. This chapter is dedicated to you for your efforts.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There is mystery for you conspiracy-theorist-lovers, action for you bloodthirsty battle-lovers (myself included)...and is that a hint of romance? And that's right, Kira was still somehow able to save Lacus...or did he? Hm... I guess you won't find out for sure until the next chapter! ;P

Asanagi—morning calm (over the ocean)


	9. Renegades and Outcasts

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 9: Renegades and Outcasts_

**November 2, 73 C.E.  
Ruins of Waltfeld/Ramius Manor, 5:30am**

There was an eerie silence on the small battlefield after the suicidal assassins had killed themselves. From the secret exit to the underground shelter and mobile suit hangar, two veteran commanders could only stare in awe and yearning at the last remaining machine. They had recognized it instantly due to how much time they had spent in its presence in the past and yearning against fading hope that the suit and its pilot would be found, safe and alive, for the past two years.

"The Freedom?" Murrue said quietly, her voice thick with emotion. "Is it Kira?"

"I don't think so," Andy answered. Though his voice was just as quiet, it was in a strictly neutral tone. "Remember what Athrun said? The pilot identified himself as 'Akira Iyadomi.'…But I wonder what it's doing here."

Movement from the lost Gundam quickly drew their attentions. It had shifted towards the destroyed manor, its bright yellow eyes flashing as it surveyed the damage. After a moment of searching, it turned suddenly and looked in their direction. Murrue and Andy couldn't help but tense up slightly, preparing for the worst case scenario. Rather than raise its rifle or make any aggressive movements, the Neo Freedom merely returned its weapon to its perch behind the suit. Then it began a slow, steady walk over towards them. Murrue and Andy were quick to duck back inside the hidden exit, watching the approaching suit warily. What was it doing now?

When it was only a few gigantic paces away, it stopped, its head piece still trained down upon the duo inside the shelter exit. "_Is everyone alright?_" a loud voice asked over the external speakers. "_I could take anyone to the hospital if I have to_."

A small wave of relief washed over Murrue as she heard that statement. The pilot wasn't also a part of the assassin team. She wasn't certain if he'd been the one responsible for the destruction of the ZAFT mobile suits since she and Andy had only arrived a few short moments after the explosions had erupted.

"Everybody's fine!" Andy yelled towards the Freedom, having recovered first. "Thanks for the help!"

"_I see_," the pilot's voice said. "_That's good to hear_." As he was speaking, the Neo Freedom knelt down. The armor suddenly darkened to gray as it deactivated itself, and the cockpit of the Gundam opened.

"Captain Murrue, Commander Waltfeld?" a gentle voice spoke up from behind them. "Is everything alright up here?"

Turning, they spotted Lacus in the doorway from the hallway leading into the deeper part of the shelter, clad in only her night gown. Her expression of worry did little to obscure her beauty. "Is the fighting over?"

"Yes, everything seems safe for the moment," Murrue answered.

"And we have an unexpected visitor," Andy commented as he turned his attention back to the disembarking pilot. "Though it doesn't seem to be who I'd have preferred it be."

Walking forward, Lacus was greeted to a sight that took her breath away and made her heart freeze for a moment. Silhouetted by the slowly brightening blue sky of the early morning was the mobile suit she'd given to her dear Kira long ago. And walking away from the cable that had just lowered him to the ground was a blond-haired person with a heavy scarf wrapped around his neck, hiding his lower face. To anyone else, this would've been a complete stranger. But to Lacus, the shape of his face that was visible, his stature and build, the way he carried himself with quiet confidence, even that soft gaze in those blue eyes!

That person…wasn't, yet somehow was…her dear Kira!

"If you don't mind my asking," the person said as he raised his hand in greeting. "Why were those ASHs attacking you?"

"They were ASH types?" Waltfeld demanded, a hint of his old military persona rising to the surface. "That means they were indeed from ZAFT."

"How do you know for sure?" Murrue asked, glancing at her friend.

"They're a new brand of ZAFT mobile suit that only recently got put into production," Andy answered easily. "Only the regular military should have them."

"But why would they attack you?" the stranger repeated patiently.

"…They were after me," Lacus said, speaking for the first time since spotting him. "Th-thank you for saving us…Wh—who are you?" Oh, how it hurt to have to ask that question!

As he turned his attention fully to the young woman, a look of confusion seemed to filter through his gaze. Then he winced and gingerly brought his hand up to rub his head, as though experiencing a severe headache. After a moment, he seemed to recover and finally answered.

"A—Akira…You can call me Akira Iyadomi."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Waltfeld/Ramius Manor, secret hangar  
7:25am**

Andy couldn't keep the smile from blossoming broadly across his face, even if he wanted to hide it. This was just too hilarious for words! Seriously, all he needed was a recliner with a beer and he'd be all set to enjoy the entertainment that the pilot was putting on.

After meeting and greeting each other, Akira had made every attempt to leave after he'd learned that no one truly needed any medical assistance. But when Andy had overheard him muttering about needing to finish repairs, he'd immediately offered to store the Freedom in the secret hangar that was under the manor. Since the boy was clearly in a hurry to repair the Gundam, he'd agreed rather quickly and had deposited the suit into the first free space he could find. And now, for the past hour and a half, he'd been ranting and raving over the many errors in reconstruction that had apparently been made to the suit by whoever had found it. And boy did the kid have an imagination!

"For crying out loud, where did those guys get their engineering licenses?" Akira's voice demanded loudly from the innards of the Freedom's left leg. "You don't connect these two circuits together—hey, that ion pump is supposed to be six millimeters further! And you don't link the neural drive to the beta power conduits!" There came a loud snapping sound with a spray of sparks flying out of the opening. "That's why! Jeez! Were they trying to fix it or short it out?! Honestly!"

Standing up through the opening, the blond yanked out a fried circuit board and threw it angrily to the floor in the growing pile of scraps and ruined modules that he'd already pulled out of his Gundam. His face and clothes were covered in oil, grease, and various other engineering fluids as he wiped his gloved hands with an already heavily smeared towel. Climbing out of the Neo Freedom's knee, he jumped lightly to the ground and walked over towards the gathered remains of the ASHs that he'd pulled into the hangar earlier.

"Need some help there, kid?" he called out from the catwalk he was leaning on.

"Nah!" Akira called back as he pulled open a panel from the leg debris of one ASH unit. "I'm almost done. Thanks anyway, sir!" As he was saying this, he pulled out another circuit board that was almost identical to the destroyed one he'd just discarded.

Just as he was about to make his way back into the Freedom, Akira suddenly jerked to a halt as his head snapped to the side. Looking in the direction that the kid was staring, he spotted Lacus holding her little blonde infant in her arms. The pink princess was apparently trying to hide from the blond pilot as he gazed up towards where she was standing behind the doorframe. Andy felt his earlier smile wane slightly as he saw the tiniest amount of red coating the girl's cheeks.

"I know you're there, whoever you are," Akira called out, his voice sounding quite gentle and serene. "Please come out, I wanted to meet you."

Confused by his statement, Lacus walked forward into sight to look down at him with her eyes awash with her anxiety. "What do you mean, Mr. Iyadomi? We met earlier."

"I—I mean…that is…oh crap," the young man uttered in confusion as he stared back up at the pink-haired beauty. Then his eyes widened slightly, as if he realized something significant. Running over to the lift, he raised it up to the catwalk and jumped off, running over towards Lacus and the infant she held. Skidding to a halt, he gazed solely upon the small infant in her arms. "So…it was you."

Surprised and no less confused, Lacus glanced between the small child and the young man in front her. The visible part of Akira's face was filled with a strange expression as he stared down at the small child. The infant, her little Kawayui-chan, was staring up at him, making a gentle cooing sound. Then, as though lost in his own little world, Akira raised one of his filthy hands towards the infant. Kawayui-chan let out gurgled giggle as she raised both her hands in begging gesture, desiring to be held by the nice stranger in front of her.

"Um, you may want to wash off a bit first," Lacus said quietly, warding his greasy hand away. "You're a bit dirty."

Blinking, Akira shook his head violently to clear it. Turning his attention back to her, he said, "I—I'm sorry. It's just that when I was flying nearby, I—I felt something…and now I know who…"

"You sensed Kawayui-chan?" she asked, very much surprised. She knew that Commander La Flaga had been able to do something similar with Rau Le Creuset, but she hadn't heard of any other people being able to do such things.

Nodding in acknowledgement, he said, "Well, I could feel her fear…and I wanted to protect her from whatever was scaring her…" Suddenly, Akira seemed to realize just how close he was standing to the beautiful young woman in front of him and just how badly he must have smelled due to how dirty he was. Backing away, he couldn't stop himself from looking away in embarrassment, "I'm sorry. Lately I've been getting these weird feelings a lot. I don't know where they're coming from at all."

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that he was blushing. She couldn't see his cheeks thanks to the scarf, but her woman's intuition was telling her that he was suddenly embarrassed. It was kind of cute, and yet another painful reminder of her dear Kira. "I see. Thank you for coming to protect her… Kawayui is very dear to me."

"Is she…" the pilot began, but then stopped himself. "Never mind. I need to finish my repairs, if you'll excuse me." With that said, he turned and dashed back to the lift and hurried back to his work.

"What was all that about?" Andy asked seriously as he drew beside Lacus.

"I…I don't know," Lacus said quietly, still staring at their savior as he returned to his work. "but I think I might have an idea."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**8:32am**

"Oh man," a loud familiar voice called out. "What happened here?!"

Turning around, Caridad Yamato couldn't fight off the small smile that formed as she spotted one of Kira's old friends climbing out of his car in what remained of the driveway. Lieutenant Tolle Koenig, a good kid with a few odd quirks that he'd picked up lately, but easily one of the most loyal of people she'd ever met. He was dressed in a rather bland-looking, long-sleeved teal shirt with broad blue stripes running down from the collar down the sleeves. Coupled with a pair of baggy black jeans, it was very easy to forget that he was a top-rated mobile suit pilot among the Orb military.

"This place looks like what the Onogoro Museum looked like after I flew the Hornet around town," Tolle remarked as he carefully ambled through the debris towards Caridad.

"Oh, you mean the time you crashed that 'stupid-blue-piece-of-crap' mobile suit last year?" one of the boys asked in a loud, _almost_ naïve voice from the pile of debris several meters away.

"Louis!" Caridad snapped, turning a sharp gaze to the suddenly cowering boy. "Watch your tongue or you'll be getting a mouthful of soap later!" Turning her attention back to Tolle, her gaze hardened even more as she spotted his growing fearful expression. "That goes double for you around the children, _Lieutenant!_"

"S-Sorry!" Tolle stuttered out. Caridad was a _very_ scary woman when she was angry (which was rarely, thankfully!). "A-Anyway, did you guys get attacked or something?"

"Yeah!" one of the children answered as they climbed over the debris pile they'd previously inhabited in favor of running over to their one of their more common house guests. "We didn't see it, but a bunch of bad guys came and smashed it!"

"They wanted to hurt Miss Lacus and Kawayui!" one of the girls cried out, tears beginning to form at the thought of losing her best friend and the young woman she admired so much.

"What?!" Tolle demanded, turning instantly serious as he looked towards Caridad Yamato for clarification.

"We're fine, all of us," she answered his unspoken question. "We had some unexpected help. I believe the young man is preparing to leave shortly though." There was a deep, sad frown on her face as she looked away, an obvious aura of grief swelling around her.

"Where are they?" Tolle asked.

But before he could get his answer, a sudden loud blast of mobile suit thrusters sounded from inside the exposed cavern where the secret hangar was located. Almost as soon as the thrusters began increasing in power, there came a subtle explosion which was quickly followed by a drawn out whine as the engines died. Even with the limited vantage point they had from their position outside, they could see a large plume of smoke beginning to rise up from a deeper section of the hangar.

Tolle turned a questioning gaze to Kira's mother. Though she was frowning very deeply at the rising smoke cloud, Tolle could've sworn on a stack of bibles that he saw a glimmer of amusement flash in her eyes as she stared in the direction of the rising smoke cloud. "That is our beloved savior, apparently still having problems with repairing his Gundam."

"Gundam?!" Instantly interested, Tolle hurried forth into the cavern to see the machine and pilot. Just as he drew close enough, Tolle's feet suddenly turned to lead and he found himself rooted on the spot. It was the FREEDOM!!!

"Hey, kid," a deep, familiar voice greeted from the side. "You're just in time! Sit back and enjoy the show."

Prying his face away from the machine, he spotted the tanned Coordinator standing off to the side with a frowning, yet still somehow amused, Murrue beside him. "What do you mean, Commander?"

"I should've known those wannabe-mechanics would've messed up my engines the way they did everything else!" the voice growled from the Gundam's torso. Turning back to the legendary Gundam, Tolle glimpsed the nimble form of the pilot jumping out of the cockpit and sliding down towards the Neo Freedom's backside, a large toolbox in one arm as he used his free one to maintain his balance. "I bet they crossed the primary power conduits again! Jeez, where the heck did those nincompoops graduate from?!"

When Tolle had first seen the Neo Freedom's debut on Junius 7, he had been completely convinced that the pilot was his friend Kira Yamato using a new name to hide himself from the public. Now, as he watched the blond-haired pilot dropping out of sight and ranting up a storm over the countless engineering mistakes that he'd likely encounter and those that he'd already fixed, he suddenly wasn't so sure. Kira Yamato, though passionate about things he cared about and his ideals, had never been one to get very vocal about his opinions when he angry.

"Who's that?" There was an obvious note of anger in Tolle's voice. If that wasn't Kira, then who the hell was piloting his best friend's machine?! Who gave him the right to?!

"He said his name was Akira Iyadomi," Andy said, glancing over at the Natural pilot questioningly at the boy's tone. "Does the name ring any bells?"

"Akira Iyadomi?!" Tolle clarified. "As in the same reckless idiot who flew the _Neo_ Freedom on Junius 7?" Andy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I know about him. What's he doing here with the Freedom?"

"Apparently, he was making his escape from Morgenroete after stealing the Neo Freedom from one of its secret hangars," Murrue answered. "He hasn't said exactly why, but I feel inclined to believe his story."

"Morgenroete?! Then why I haven't I heard anything from Mrs. Simmons or Cagalli about them finding the Neo Freedom?" Tolle demanded, but then he paused as a thought suddenly struck. "…Unless they didn't know!"

"That's what the kid's told us," Andy commented. "He said something about a conspiracy, but not much else."

"I'll bet it was the Seirans," Tolle commented viciously, scowling deeply.

"Anyway, how are you doing, Tolle?" Murrue asked quietly. "I heard you got removed from being the Fortitude's pilot after that incident with the _Minerva_ a few days ago." She knew first-hand how much he loved that Gundam as he spent almost as much time talking to her about ideas for possible upgrades to it as he did with Mrs. Simmons.

"That's not the only thing that happened," Tolle growled, his frown deepening greatly as his eyes narrowed dangerously. "The bastard, Yuna Roma, used my little disobedience to all but fire me from the military!"

"What?" Murrue and Andy asked simultaneously.

"He claimed that my latest act of disobedience was a 'blatant disregard to the well-being of the nation and the citizens that I've been charged to protect by attacking and destroying a fleet and countless men and women from the Alliance that the nation was in the process of joining.' And that 'given my extensive record of poor piloting skills of the various mobile suit designs that I've been entrusted with, as well as extensive damage to both public and military property, it is only logical that I be removed from my position as the test pilot and as the Chief Representative's escort pilot since I'm just as likely to endanger her as the enemies for which I should be protecting her from'…That guy likes the sound of his own voice _way_ too much!"

"So you've been reassigned to a regular Murasame squadron?" Murrue guessed, somehow already knowing that she was wrong.

"Of course not!" Oh yes, Tolle was very angry about this issue. "I've been reassigned to the _Sokowatatsumi _battleship_ as a navigator!_ The bastard's excuse was that the one job that I didn't crash anything with was when I was on the _Archangel_, and that it was only because I wasn't piloting it!"

"…That's a bit harsh," Andy drawled, wincing as Tolle trained a fierce glare upon him.

"But that's not the worst part," Tolle said, his voice deadly serious despite the great deal of anger still in it. "Because of my disobedience, the Seirans feel the need to not only push up the signing of the treaty, but the wedding between Cagalli and the bastard! They're having them both take place tomorrow."

"What?!" Murrue demanded, surprised at the rashness of the Prime Minister's actions.

"I guess we're going to have to push up our plans as well," Andy said quietly. No one disagreed with him on that point.

Not desiring to continue along with the current subject, all three war veterans turned their attentions back towards the still-ranting pilot as he continued repairing his Gundam.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Djibril Manor**

"What did you say?!" Djibril demanded hotly, squeezing his glass of wine so tightly that he sent a series of cracks throughout its length. But the trillionaire didn't even notice the small trails of expensive wine that started running down his clenched fist as his focus was completely upon the monitor in front of him. "What do you mean the Gundam_ escaped?! __**How**__ could this have __**happened?!**_"

"It would seem that Prime Minister Seiran had been withholding crucial information from us about the true status of the repairs that had been done to the mobile suit," Alwin Ritter answered. Though he was every bit as enraged as Djibril, he was doing a far better job of hiding it. "I confess to having suspected such underhanded tactics being played, but even I seem to have underestimated the exact degree of progress being made. If my calculation is correct, Seiran had been hoping to hack into the CPU and use its data for himself. Apparently, however, someone caught on to him."

As Alwin was speaking, a clipping from the security cameras in the Morgenroete facility was brought up onto Djibril's screen. He watched with barely restrained anger as one section of the factory was suddenly engulfed in an explosion, and rising from it was the Gundam that he'd been hoping to convert for his use. After a moment of hovering in the air over the facility, allowing all personnel nearby to see it, the Neo Freedom suddenly turned and flew off-screen at a high speed.

Clenching his teeth in rage, Djibril glared at the video as it rewound and repeated the footage. Turning his attention back to Ritter, he demanded, "Did we at least manage to get enough data to begin the mass production of our own models?!"

For just a moment, Alwin looked rather indecisive. "Yes…and no, Djibril. We were able to able to copy its technical, combat, and system data, so we have enough to build a few prototypes. However, there seems to be a lingering computer virus that has thus far prevented us from acquiring all the necessary information to create an exact duplicate of the machine."

"Send that data to Heaven's Base and the Daedalus lunar base," Djibril ordered. "I want that virus hacked and removed immediately, the top priority being the development of prototype Neo Freedoms within the next two months. We may not have the pot of gold, but we can certainly make do with the gold pieces we snatched away."

"Of course, sir," Alwin agreed easily. "What shall we do about the Seirans? Enough questions are being asked due to the Freedom's sudden appearance in one of their secure facilities. If we attempt to…punish the Seirans, attention will be drawn to them and put them into a position that could make them not as willing to aid us in the future."

Closing his eyes and forcing himself to calm down so he could think clearly, Djibril considered his options. After a full minute of thinking, he nodded to himself and responded to Ritter's question, "For the moment, we will do nothing. We will remove any and all support for his various schemes and projects for his nation in the near-future, as well as issue a warning to him; informing him to never again lie to a power such as ourselves. I trust you'll make its delivery…creative, Ritter."

"Yes sir," Alwin acknowledged, smiling maliciously as several potential ideas already came to his mind.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**9:42am**

"CPG settings complete," Akira muttered to himself, feeling immeasurably relieved that he had finally reached this final stage. "Neural linkage router optimal, ion density normal. Update meta-motor cortex parameters. Nuclear reactor critical, power flow stable. Estimated calibrations holding, engine thrusters operating at one-hundred percent efficiency. Mirage Colloid, online and accessible. Systems all green. Neo Freedom, prepared for launch sequence!"

But rather than boost the engines and send his Gundam flying out of the hangar, he powered down the mobile suit and placed it on standby. Climbing out of the Neo Freedom's cockpit, he gave a long stretch to relieve the tension that had built up in his muscles after the long night and early morning he'd already experienced with minimal sleep. As he jumped to the lift that he had been using and lowered it to the ground, he found himself staring at his audience.

Upon spotting a new addition to the group, Akira felt that ever-present piercing ache in his head. It was like something or someone was trying to set off an explosion in the back of his mind and only his unwavering resolve was keeping the excruciating agony at bay, keeping it from consuming his entire mind. However, this wasn't the first time he'd felt this kind of pain. The first time had been when he'd woken up in the hospital a few short weeks ago and he'd heard that angel's voice singing. What he was feeling now was much more potent for some reason, but he was still able to keep it away.

The person who'd joined the group was a young man with a series of what looked to be ugly burn scars running along the back of his neck and part way up the sides of his cheeks. His brown hair was cut rather short around the sides and back, clearly part of a military organization if he was correct. Even though his clothing was that of a civilian, his stance and posture just seemed to scream out 'active duty soldier' to Akira. He was able to recognize this person almost immediately due to those ugly burn scars he had. Lieutenant Tolle Koenig, the infamous Orb pilot responsible for the crashes of various mobile suits developed by Morgenroete in the last two years as well as a significant war hero of the Bloody Valentine War.

"I'm finished with my repairs," Akira said shortly as he stepped off the lift. "If you still have any working, I'd be very grateful if I could use the shower."

"Of course, Akira," Murrue agreed easily. "This way. Follow me."

As he followed the attractive brunette to another part of the secret hangar, Akira could feel the Lieutenant's eyes following him. Once he was safely out of the young man's hearing, he spoke up. "What is Lieutenant Koenig doing here, Ms. Ramius?"

"He's an old friend of ours," she answered, smiling slightly as she glanced back at him, easily seeing his discomfort with Tolle's gaze still on them. "He drops by to visit regularly when he's not on duty."

"I see," was all Akira said as he finally spotted one of mankind's most blessed creations of all time. As he walked confidently towards the men's showers, he glanced at her and said, "I'm going to be leaving as soon as I finish here, madam."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**10:03am**

The group of four was standing in front of the newly repaired Neo Freedom. Dressed in a different outfit of a plain red shirt, jeans, and wearing a cleaner version of the same scarf, Akira studied the three people standing before him. Lieutenant Tolle Koenig was staring at him with a piercing gaze, no doubt trying to see what Akira was hiding under his scarf. Murrue was standing a relaxed position with a neutral expression on her face. But the person who Akira's eyes kept gravitating towards was the beautiful young woman standing directly in front of him, her eyes suspiciously wet as she continued to stare him with what could almost be frightening clarity. The only reason that Commander Waltfeld wasn't with them was because he was overseeing the beginnings of the _Archangel_'s start-up operations that were taking place several levels below them.

"Are you sure that you don't wish to accompany us, K—Mr. Iyadomi?" Lacus asked, her voice clearly straining to remain clear of any of the emotions that she was trying to keep hidden. "We could very much use your aid in the coming months."

Shaking his head resolutely, Akira forcefully ignored the sudden sharp jolt that flared in his mind as he stared at her. "No, I can't… I don't want to involve anyone else with what I have to do."

"And what's that?" Tolle asked, his arms crossed as he awaited his answer.

"I will not let this war escalate like the last one did," Akira said seriously, turning his gaze to the famed pilot. "If you take away a person's weapons, what will they have left to fight with? Words. They will be forced to talk out their problems with one another. If that means that I must become the enemy of both sides of the conflict, then so be it. I would rather have them shoot at me than each other."

"That's a very noble sentiment," Murrue said from where she was standing. "But merely taking away weapons will not end the war. It's not that easy."

"I know that," Akira acknowledged, nodding to the Captain. "But I'm a warrior, not a negotiator. I'll leave stuff like that up to the people who know how to do it properly."

"But are you sure that what you want to do is the best thing?" Murrue pressed. Her gaze took a firmer stance, as did the other two, while Akira considered his answer.

"Yes," Akira said quietly. "Right now, we all want to do something to help. But truthfully, none of us know if what we want to do is the right thing. But we can't just sit back and do nothing now, can we?"

Lacus' expression changed slightly. This sounded…familiar.

"If we just did nothing, because we thought that it wouldn't help," Akira continued quietly, his gaze drifting down to the floor as his face softened sadly. "then we'd be doing less than nothing, because—"

"—Nothing would change," Lacus interrupted gently, earning a surprised stare from Akira. "and nothing would end."

"Yes," Akira said, nodding to the young woman as an especially fierce jolt of pain stabbed through his consciousness. Rubbing his head tenderly, he looked at Lacus with a small smile. "I guess you understand my opinion, then."

"Yes, I understand," Lacus nodded, tears falling silently down her cheeks. "…A very dear friend once said the same thing to me." Neither Murrue nor Tolle seemed to feel the need to clarify who Lacus was referring to and Akira was too busy fighting off another jolt of pain to ask. "Will we see or hear from you again?"

Unable to hold back the spiteful smile, Akira nodded, "I imagine you'll be seeing me often enough on the news and in the papers, damning the _space monster_ and its mobile suit."

"When the war is over, will you come back? Back to us…here in Orb?"

Looking up at the pink-haired beauty, Akira momentarily forgot his head pain in his surprise. She wanted him to come back? Not that he was averse to it, but still… "I don't know…Possibly. We'll see how time handles things."

"Speaking of time," Murrue said suddenly, unintentionally breaking the strange moment that was being shared by the duo. "Lieutenant, I think it's about time you left to pick up your machine."

"Oh, yes," a strange smile was pulling at Tolle's face as he turned and threw a crisp salute at the former Captain. "Lieutenant Tolle Koenig, departing at once, Captain Ramius!"

Watching the scarred Lieutenant make his way through the debris that was scattered in front of the exposed cavern, Akira couldn't help but shake his head. That was one strange guy there. Unnoticed by Akira, Murrue was also taking her leave to board and oversee the _Archangel_'s departure.

"Mr. Iyadomi," Lacus' gentle voice drew him back to her. "I—I have a request for you…if you're willing."

"What is it?" he asked kindly, smiling at the way she suddenly seemed so bashful.

"If—if you come across the original pilot of the Freedom, Kira Yamato," she began, her cheeks beginning to redden as she glanced away from his questioning gaze. "Please tell him that…that Lacus Clyne is still waiting for him to come back…and that I have something very…_important_ to tell him…Something I should have told him two years ago."

"I see," Akira said quietly, watching the young woman carefully as she stared at the floor between them. Her face was coated in tears and red from her blush, giving her a very interesting facial expression. Feeling a stab at his heart at seeing her like this, he gently reached out and lifted her face up so she could see his face. His gentle smile was apparent even from behind his scarf. "If I find him, I'll definitely be sure to give him the message. And can I ask something of you?" Lacus only nodded mutely. "Please take very good care of little Kawayui. She is…_very_ special."

Akira had been hoping that he would encourage the young Clyne woman to overcome her obviously conflicting emotions. But it seemed that mentioning the young infant caused Lacus' blush to deepen as more tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't find the strength to speak, so she settled for nodding to his request. To Lacus, this young man could only be her dear Kira. She wanted to reach out and nuzzle into his warm body so badly, to feel his love for her that she was starved of again.

But in the end, she could only continue to cry silently as the stranger before her finally tore his eyes away from her and made his way into the cockpit of the Gundam that he'd claimed for his own. The Neo Freedom gave her a small wave goodbye before launching itself into the air and flying off towards battlefields unknown.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Morgenroete – Orb Facility  
10:15am**

To say that Cagalli was angry would've been understating the facts. She was angry, confused, longing, and scared all in one. And all of it stemmed from a report she'd received from Erica Simmons shortly after nine in the morning. A biohazard alarm had been triggered on Level Four of Morgenroete shortly after five in the morning, resulting in a mass of confusion amongst the personnel who were still pulling nightshift duty. That wasn't anything to be overly concerned with, since such alarms happened on a surprisingly frequent basis due to the research and development of weapons and technologies that took place there.

However, not even ten minutes after the alarm was sounded, there had been a large explosion that tore open one of the secret hangars. And blasting out of the debris was the _Neo Freedom_, seemingly repaired since its tragic disappearance after the fall of Junius 7. Though Erica hadn't been present when the Gundam had made its brief appearance before rapidly flying away, the image of the Neo Freedom rising out of the smoke and fire had been caught on no less than seven security cameras from all over the facility.

What had the Neo Freedom been doing in Morgenroete? If it had been in the process of being repaired as she suspected, why hadn't she been informed of its discovery and transfer to Morgenroete? Who was behind all this?! Cagalli had utmost confidence and faith in Erica when she said that she had not known of the Neo Freedom's presence and that no one present during the incident apparently had either.

Standing in the ruined hangar, Cagalli surveyed the damage done by the rogue Gundam. Truthfully, the only real damage had been done to the hangar doors. Judging from the scorch marks and the twisted debris that remained of them, the doors had apparently put up a considerable amount of resistance to the Freedom's weapons.

"I was wondering when you'd get here, Miss Cagalli," a pleasant voice greeted from off to the side. "Though I admit that you're a bit later than I'd have expected you to be."

"I got sidetracked for a little bit," Cagalli said, not wishing to recall the unpleasant morning she'd had with Yuna when she'd received news of the apparent 'breakout'. "So, have you found anything _useful_ since earlier? Like how the Freedom came to be in Morgenroete without anyone knowing, or how it got repaired so quickly?"

Shaking her head in denial, Erica merely said, "I'm afraid not. Those questions are still questions. However, I did come across some rather interesting footage from an internal security camera."

"Show me," Cagalli commanded, turning to face the Coordinator mechanic.

After being quickly led into a small security center that was hidden in the corner of the hangar, Cagalli watched the monitor critically. On it she could see a group of easily twenty or more engineers looking around in confusion as red lights suddenly flared to life around the hangar, probably from when the alarm had been pulled.

"I don't know who did it," Erica was saying as the screen showed the engineers begin running towards the elevator. "but someone had apparently shut down the hangar camera earlier. I assume that they'd been doing it since they'd started rebuilding the Freedom, trying to cover their tracks as it were. However, as part of the programming, when the alarm was sounded, the camera was automatically brought back online."

"Have you been able to identify any of those people?" Cagalli asked, glaring as the last group of engineers filed into the elevator.

"Several of them I have," Erica acknowledged. "However, they've been missing since the alarm was pulled. I don't think it's too likely that we'll find any of them in the near future."

Before Cagalli could ask another question, movement from the elevator drew her attention. The doors were forced partially open as a nimble figure squeezed through. The person then dashed into the hangar towards the rebuilt Gundam. It was here that Erica paused the security tape to allow Cagalli a chance to view the person on the screen. The person was a young man with bright blond hair. He was dressed in an all black outfit with a heavy scarf wrapped around his neck, hiding his full face from view. Draped over his shoulders was a bulky backpack that was clearly filled to the point of bursting from its questionable contents.

"I have yet to identify who this young man is," Erica said quietly. "However, one thing that I can say for certain that he's likely been planning this for a while…He knew exactly where, how, what to do to get this far into Morgenroete to steal from a top-secret hangar."

"Th-That's…Akira Iyadomi," Cagalli said, her voice thick with repressed emotion. "He's the…pilot of the Neo Freedom."

"But how do you know he survived the fall?" Erica asked skeptically. "That could very well be someone else."

"No, that's definitely Iyadomi," Cagalli insisted, glaring slightly at the figure on the screen. How dare he take her brother's machine!! "Have you been able to find anything else? Like data on how, what, or why they were doing this?"

"While we don't have any new information about how it got here or why," Erica said as she turned to another monitor. "I was able to come across some of the technical data they were using to repair the Freedom."

Joining the Coordinator mechanic, Cagalli instantly recognized the data. It was the same as the old data that was the basis of the original Freedom that the Atlantic Federation had gotten its hands on for the Neutron Jammer Canceller. This data, however, had been originally used by the _Kusanagi_, _Eternal_, and _Archangel_ to perform maintenance and resupply during the Three Ships Alliance. After the final battle on September 26, 71 C.E., all data pertaining to the Justice and Freedom Gundams had been transferred into the memory banks of the Morgenroete computers. So it wasn't too much of a surprise to see it now.

"Based on the logs that I've been able to find," Erica said as she brought up another screen showing an approximate timeline. "I'd assume that the engineers had been unable to hack into the mobile suit's CPU because there seemed to be an _extremely_ potent computer virus guarding it. They had been forced to rely on this old data to repair it in order to keep within the time limits they were given by their 'benefactors'."

"But why did Iyadomi choose _now_ to steal the Neo Freedom?" Cagalli asked as she reviewed the damage and repair reports as best she could. Most of it went right over her head due to the complex and technical terms they'd used.

"If my guess is correct," Erica said as she pulled up a specific section of the report. "The benefactor was getting impatient with how long the repairs were taking and wanted to transfer the Freedom to a more…appropriate facility. Somehow, Mr. Iyadomi learned of this and decided to take it now and not wait for its full completion."

"'Full completion'?" Cagalli asked. "You mean to say that the Neo Freedom wasn't fully repaired when it escaped?"

"That's correct," Erica nodded. Turning a grave expression to the younger woman, Mrs. Simmons said, "I know you honestly had no idea that the Freedom was here, Miss Cagalli. But between you and me, I think you should keep an extra careful eye on those around you in the government. Someone rather high up must've known about it and hidden the truth from everyone else…Had this incident not happened, we'd likely have not even _known_ it had ever been here."

Nodding seriously to her friend, Cagalli quietly muttered, "I know, Mrs. Simmons. I know."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Morgenroete – Orb Facility  
10:45am**

Even though he was technically no longer authorized to be on this level, the fact that his security card still worked, as well as his presence having become so common over the past two years, helped in his infiltration greatly. In all the confusion caused by the false alarm and the Neo Freedom's return from the dead from right inside this very facility, no one gave him a second glance as he walked through the hallways towards where his prize was resting.

He had actually made it all the way to the doorway of the hangar he wanted before he ran into his first problem. His security card didn't provide him access to the hangar behind the heavy doors in front of him.

"I figured you'd do something like this," a familiar voice spoke up from somewhere startlingly nearby. The last time he'd checked, only a few seconds ago, the entire hallway had been empty. "That's why I changed the locking system."

"Whatever do you mean, Mrs. Simmons?" Tolle asked in his most charming 'I-don't-have-a-clue-what-you're-talking-about' voice. "I only wanted to go say goodbye to my good friend before I was _most likely_ permanently discharged by the bastard."

"Then I suppose the fact that you chose to do that during all the mess caused by the Neo Freedom is entirely a coincidence?" Erica asked, amusement warring with sternness in her voice and expression.

"Uh…yes?" Tolled said, trying to maintain at least a margin of control over the situation. Too bad he hadn't been in control to begin with.

"And just what were you planning to accomplish by stealing the Gundam?" Erica asked seriously. "Though you were designated as its pilot, the Fortitude does not belong to you."

"I'm going to take it because we think that we're going to need it in a short while," Tolle stated, finally dropping all pretense. "Plus it wouldn't hurt to have a getaway vehicle for when I need to drop back in to pick up an honored guest so that she won't be further manipulated by those who want her power and position."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"…Let's just say that the Angel will rise once again," Tolle said cryptically, a small smile of pride pulling at his lips.

"…I see," Erica said quietly, almost instantly understanding what he was saying. After a moment of consideration, she suddenly snapped her fingers as though remembering something important. "That's right! I had been in the process of reviewing the damage assessments of the mobile suit after that little fiasco the former pilot had put it through when I was suddenly attacked from behind." As she was saying this, she moved around Tolle and slid her security card through the slot, opening the door. "By the time I came to, the attacker had already stolen the Gundam."

Smiling appreciatively at his good friend, Tolle nodded in thanks to the woman as he walked through the now-open doorway. The Fortitude Gundam stood proudly in front of him. Even with its deactivated VPS armor, it was shining brightly in the overhead lights.

Before he could take more than a few steps away, Erica suddenly spoke, "Take good care of that suit. You won't be getting a new one until a few months from now." Freezing instantly, Tolle's mind replayed what the woman had just said several times before he turned and looked back at her smugly smiling face. "If you liked the Fortitude, I can guarantee that you're going to love the next one for all _eternity_."

Tolle wasn't given the chance to question her as the doors suddenly swung shut, separating them and reminding him of his mission. For some reason, despite how much he loved the Fortitude, Tolle wasn't able to keep a smile from blossoming on his face at the thought of getting a new machine. And Erica was…_usually_ correct in her initial assessments. Excluding the Kajiki of course.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**November 3, 73 C.E.  
Seiran Estate, 9:00am**

Clad in her wedding dress and the traditional veil, Cagalli sat silently in her room, her mind lost among countless memories. Her depression was evident through the sad gaze in her eyes, the only thing that marred the image of absolute beauty that she portrayed.

She knew that today was supposed to be considered a day of great joy and happiness for her. That she should be looking to the future with hope and eagerness. That this day would mark the beginning of what could be considered the first of a grand new adventure. But due to the circumstances that led up to it, she could only feel remorse, betrayal, and depression. She knew that she was betraying Athrun, getting married without even consulting him or being able to properly return the ring that he'd given her before his departure to the PLANTs. She felt depressed because she knew that she didn't love Yuna Roma Seiran, and that while this marriage could be seen as showing her devotion to her nation, it still felt wrong to her.

But what truly depressed her was that her long-lost brother couldn't be here. Yes, Yuna had made it quite clear that it was for the best that Kira had died (in his opinion) in the war, so he couldn't attend the ceremony. This was because of Unato pushing up the signing of the alliance treaty with the Atlantic Federation in response to Lieutenant Tolle's actions during the _Minerva_'s escape. As a soon-to-be member of the renewed anti-Coordinator sentimentality of the Earth Alliance, it would have caused a great deal of controversy among the nations of the world had Kira been able to appear at her wedding. But understanding Yuna's reasoning didn't make the pain of Kira not even being given the choice and her desire to have had him there regardless any less easy to bear.

A gentle knocking on the door, followed by muffled voice, informed her that the ceremony was about to begin. In the back of her mind, Cagalli was begging for her 'dead' brother to come and save her from what she knew would likely be an unhappy marriage.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Paro, Bhutan  
9:08am**

The western town of Paro held quite a history in the tiny country of Bhutan on the southeastern edge of the Himalayas. Surrounded by high, jagged mountains and cliffs, with lush forests and regular monsoons, the town, like the country, was considered one of most isolated locations in the world prior the development of various technologies and conveniences. Home to the fortress-monastery of Rinpung Dzong, the current town of Paro was a location ripe with religious significance to locals and a bloody history of numerous invasion attempts.

What better place for the first revolutionaries to stage a rebellion against the powers that held such an unjust iron grip? But like all revolutionaries, they had little preparation for the drastic events that they were soon to be involved in.

Because of its relatively small population (when compared to its neighbors of India and China) yet high amounts of natural resources, the country of Bhutan was a prime location for the Earth Alliance to establish a mining facility and factory. Where the country had once prided itself on its natural beauty and connection to the spirit realm as part of their Buddhist beliefs, the country's more temperature southern regions were demolished by deforestation and mining. The citizens were pressed into service by the Eurasian Federation to either serve in the military or work in the mines. As such, a vast majority of the population still remaining in the country was mostly the young or elderly, who had all but been harboring a growing resentment and rage against the Russian-controlled Eurasian Federation.

The early morning of the early autumn day had begun like any other. There was a heavy fog hanging in the air, obscuring visibility greatly. To those who navigated the earth by foot, it posed little trouble since their trails were clearly marked for them. But for those flying in the air, it was a deathtrap due to the high mountains and cliffs. Yet as the people shuffled out of their homes to go about their daily business, something came by to disrupt their everyday routines.

It started as a low whine, remarkably similar to that of an airplane that was coming in for a landing. But that couldn't be right, the Paro airport had all but been closed down when the Eurasian Federation seized control of the government. And since shipments of ore and natural resources were too treacherous to be done by plane thanks to the strong winds generated by the Himalaya Mountains, they were usually sent by truck or train. Due to the lack of an airport, the people of Paro hadn't had any real tourists in a very long time.

For the young orphan boy who was simply called Lhomon by the people who knew him, it was a day of change. Living a small cave he had found in a mountain only a kilometer from Paro, Lhomon was only person within the immediate vicinity of the sudden strange noise that was filling the air around him. Normally, he'd have easily been able to spot the source of the noise, but thanks to the heavy fog in the air, he was unable to determine where it was coming from or why it seemed to be coming closer.

Looking around as a sudden strong gust of cold morning air swept over his small form, the young boy turned towards where the wind was coming from. But he could still only see nothing, despite the whining sound of what were clearly engines of some kind being so loud and close. Where was this wind and noise coming from?

As the engines and wind began to die down, the air suddenly seemed to waver. And then, as though peeling itself out of thin air, a large gray machine suddenly materialized no less than seven meters in front of Lhomon. The young boy took one look at the machine before he turned and ran for shelter behind a tree. From the greater distance he'd gained, Lhomon was quickly able to see that the machine seemed to be some new kind of mobile armor. Only it was different from those armors that he'd glimpsed flying around the mines for the past month. Where those had looked like crabs and spiders, this one looked like some kind of combination of a butterfly and spider.

After what seemed like forever, even though it was less than a few minutes, a shady form pulled itself into view near the rearmost section of the machine. Even in the limited light available in the thick fog, Lhomon could clearly make out prominent blond hair and a scarf wrapped around the person's neck. Who was this person?

Lhomon watched silently as the stranger leapt lightly to the rugged ground. After throwing up a basic camouflage to hide the machine, the person momentarily returned to the machine's innards and withdrew a backpack. Apparently satisfied with their machine being partially hidden from sight, the person immediately begun walking in the direction of Paro.

Youthful curiosity getting the better of him, the young seven-year-old Natural began to follow the person as silently as he could. The same questions over the identity of the person and what his or her intentions were kept playing through his mind in a never-ending cycle. One thing that he knew for sure though, he wanted to see what this person was going to do.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**Onogoro, Orb  
9:15am**

"_**Tolle!**__ What are you __**doing?!**_" Cagalli yelled indignantly at the Gundam that held her securely in its grasp. She had no doubt that he was indeed the pilot of the Fortitude, which was now flying through the skies over Onogoro away from her wedding ceremony.

"_Hang on tight, Cagalli!_" Tolle's voice sounded over the external speakers as the Fortitude gently brought her towards the cockpit of the mobile suit. It was with a great deal of relief that she leapt from the Gundam's hand into the scarred pilot's arms. When the hatch slid shut behind her, cutting off cold autumn winds that had been blowing against her bare and poorly protected skin in her wedding dress, she was finally able to throw a decent glare at her friend.

Letting out a whistle at blonde beauty in his arms, Tolle smirked at her angry glare, "You know, I'm _almost_ jealous of Athrun! You look great in that dress!"

"What do you think you're doing, Lieutenant?!" Cagalli screamed, not even allowing the blush that wanted to blossom across her face to escape.

"I once fantasized about stealing the bride from a bad marriage," Tolle remarked as he turned his attention back to the controls. "But I never thought that I'd one day do it for real! This is frickin' awesome!"

"Tolle!" Cagalli drawled out, her voice thick with a fierce warning and a promise of immediate pain. But before she could get much further in her plans of harming the idiotic pilot, an alarm sounded from the control panel.

"Better sit tight, Cagalli," Tolle suggested as a pair of Murasame mobile suits appeared on screen.

"_Attention, Fortitude!_" a loud voice ordered. "_Land immediately! Do you copy, Lieutenant Koenig? Land immediately!_"

"Yeah right," Tolle sneered.

Without another word, he threw the Fortitude's beam boomerangs with expert precision. The weapons not only sliced off the wings of the transformed Murasames, but also heavily damaged the engines, sending both suits crashing for the ground below. Catching the returning weapons, Tolle activated the Voiture Lumiere system and pushed it up to twenty percent.

Unprepared for the sudden massive boost in speed and the corresponding G-forces, Cagalli let out a distressed cry as she was pressed heavily into Tolle's lap. Ignoring the girl as best he could, Tolle flew the Fortitude towards the harbor where the _Archangel_ had surfaced only a few short minutes ago. As he drew closer, he deactivated the Voiture Lumiere to allow him to safely land in the open catapult.

As soon as the renegade Gundam and pilot with its honored passenger were safely onboard, the _Archangel_ began to submerge. They met no resistance from the Orb navy fleet as they disappeared under the waves. Onboard the _Asanagi_, Captain Todaka had a broad smile on his face as he and the other captains respectfully saluted the former Earth Forces warship. _I'm counting on you, __**Archangel**__. Take good care of Lady Cagalli and the future of our world._

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**A small diner, Paro  
12:11pm**

Akira wasn't sure whether he should be annoyed or amused. Ever since he'd landed in this remote region, he'd had the distinct feeling that he was being followed, even without his strange new sixth sense. And it was rather easy to discover who was trailing him, that young child had almost no concept of the word stealth. But since the child hadn't approached him and because Akira wasn't picking up any malicious vibes from the boy, he let him be.

Turning his attention back to his laptop, Akira couldn't help but scowl at the information provided on screen. It seemed that the Eurasian Federation, despite almost being eligible for the title 'moderates' when it came to Coordinators, was playing flat-out dirty in this small country! There was a full military presence that presided over the country's small government and it had established a detailed timetable for the citizens to work by. Those that resisted were severely punished, thrown into prison, or drafted straight into the military (regardless of age, sex, or any health issues). And with a vast majority of their people already drafted in either the military or the mines, they had little energy or desire to throw up any sort of resistance.

But that wasn't the only thing worthy of Akira's attention. Once he'd established a firm background history to the current state of affairs, he'd hacked into the Eurasian Federation's factory that was built only a short distance away from where he now sat. Apparently, the extremely remote location, as well as the preconceived relative insignificance of the country, had made the soldiers somewhat complacent when it came to computer security. He'd hacked into their mainframe rather easily and discovered some interesting secrets that he'd likely have not learned until sometime later.

Due in part to the country being located on the edge of the Himalaya Mountains, Bhutan seemed to be a literal goldmine of ores that were necessities of Alliance mobile suit production; hence the reason that the Eurasian Federation had constructed a factory in the immediate area of the mines. While a considerable portion of the ore mined was sent to the factory, just as much was shipped away to other nearby factories.

But the most interesting secret that Akira had found was just what was being built in that factory. It seemed that this factory was one of the few that actually built the Alliance's new mobile armors. This particular factory primarily constructed the units called Gells-Ghe, with a few of the other units called Zamza-Zah for variety. Those mobile armors could become some very serious threats, especially because of the positron shields they employed. Even for the Neo Freedom…

However, despite the military presence that controlled the government, it seemed that the actual military strength in the country itself was minimal. In fact, the factory itself was only guarded by a single squadron of ten Windam mobile suits and a single Zamza-Zah and Gells-Ghe. Considering the importance of the factory, that was a very light defense. But it seemed that the preconceived insignificance of the country would be plenty enough to have ZAFT look the other way, and truthfully, they weren't that far off.

A sudden tweak in his awareness caused Akira to immediately shut down his laptop. Turning to face the direction that he had sensed the approaching danger from, Akira spotted a small group of preteens running down the road. That by itself sent warning bells through Akira's mind, since by military law, all children were supposed to be in the military academy for children, where they'd learn the basics needed to become soldiers. The fact that those preteens were not there likely meant that their families were high enough up the political food chain that they were exempt from being drafted in favor of becoming politicians. It would be best to keep out of their sight since preteens like them were likely to cause more trouble than they were worth.

However, due to his sudden change in posture, the young boy whom had been following him all morning got the wrong impression. The young boy, who hadn't noticed the approach the preteens, let out a silent yelp and attempted to flee since he'd apparently been noticed by the stranger. The young boy, without realizing where he was heading, bumped into one of the preteens.

Despite not being able to speak the language, bullying was a universal constant. And Akira recognized the signs immediately. The young boy, seemingly a mute, had almost instantly started being pushed around by the older, taller, and stronger preteens who began to making snide remarks to the boy in their own language.

Standing up, Akira marched over to the grabbed the wrist of the preteen just as he was about to throw a punch at the defenseless boy. The preteen turned an instant glare upon whoever dared touch his noble skin, only to be met by a glare that outshone his own by several magnitudes. Firmly pushing the bully away, Akira stepped between the boys as they collected to one side of the street several paces away. Ignoring their loud accusations, Akira gently helped the young boy to his feet and brushed off the dirt from his filthy shirt.

Seeing that the blond stranger was not even reacting to their multiple threats of getting him fired from his no doubt, lowly working station in the mines, the preteens eventually turned away, each swearing to themselves to get the bastard into deep trouble in the immediate to near-future for interrupting their fun.

"You okay?" he asked in a clear, gentle voice.

Even though he knew the boy likely hadn't understood the words, the compassion in Akira's voice unmistakable. A small blush lit up the boy's cheeks as he realized just who his savior was. Before Akira could stop him, the boy turned and ran away in a random direction, thankfully in the opposite one that the bullies had taken. Shaking his head in confusion, Akira turned and gathered up his backpack and laptop. He needed to make a more thorough investigation of the factory before he performed his attack.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**3:00pm**

From his perch on a rocky cliff that overlooked the factory, Lhomon stared with awe at the incredible scene that was taking place before his very eyes. He couldn't help but think many questions as he watched what was happening in front of him. Was this the reason that the stranger had come to their small town? Why would he choose to do it here, in the middle of nowhere? What would happen to the townsfolk afterwards?

After the stranger had saved him from those preteen bullies, despite being horribly embarrassed by the young man's actions, Lhomon had still kept a close eye on him. He had watched as the stranger came up to these cliffs to study the factory below. He had watched as the stranger returned to the small diner for a short meal and to continue whatever he had started on his computer. And then, finally, the stranger had headed back towards where he'd left his machine. It was here that Lhomon had taken a leap of faith. He had run all the way back to these cliffs to watch what would happen.

No matter what Lhomon might've hoped the blond would do, blatantly attacking the factory was about the last thing that he'd ever thought it would be. The weird mobile armor the blond piloted had been invisible when the attack initially started, but when it had reappeared it had been in the form of a mobile suit. Under the shockingly great amount of firepower that the mobile suit generated, the most crucial locations of the factory were destroyed in a matter of seconds. The many Alliance armors that were in the process of being assembled were quickly targeted and reduced to scrap metal in an instant.

And then the Alliance's defenses arrived, all ten mobile suits and two armors. Even though Lhomon had just seen firsthand how powerful the stranger's machine was, he felt a terrible fear in his gut as he saw just how drastically outnumbered he was. Lhomon had grown up around those Alliance machines; he knew exactly how dangerous and powerful they could be in the hands of the right pilots. And no matter how powerful that stranger's machine was, he was fighting against actual enemies and not a near-defenseless factory. Lhomon had already resigned himself to watching the courageous, yet foolish, stranger be killed by those ruthless Eurasian pilots as the Windams and armors readied their retaliation.

But to Lhomon's eternal surprise, the stranger was much, _much_ more skilled than he'd ever dreamed! Upon spotting the attacking Windams, the stranger's suit had snapped into a firing position and destroyed all ten Windams within an instant of one another. The battle against the armors proved to be a bit more difficult for the stranger thanks to their energy shields. However, because of a careless trigger finger, one of the armors, the one that looked like a flying crab, had sent a powerful energy blast down upon its partner while it was in the process of evading the stranger's attacks. The spider-like armor on the ground hadn't been prepared for the unexpected attack and was destroyed in a spectacular explosion.

With only one mobile armor left to deal with, Lhomon couldn't stop himself from beginning to hope for the stranger's victory. However, even without the distraction provided by the second armor, the battle was proving to be difficult for the stranger. The energy shield was apparently very powerful and the gunners of the armor only brought it down long enough for them shoot at their enemy.

Due to the flow of the battle, Lhomon found himself looking down upon the armor as it was backed towards the cliff that he was hiding on. Seeing the form of the stranger's mobile suit preparing to unleash another volley of its firepower upon its opponent, Lhomon let out a mute yell of fear and scrambled away for safety.

As fate would have it, in Lhomon's frantic attempt to hide or find a safer place to watch the battle, the young boy accidently disturbed a series of rotten logs that were perched haphazardly on the cliff edge. With the boy's unintentional aid, the logs finally gave way to gravity's power and toppled over the edge, pulling with them several boulders no larger than a common basketball. The debris fell from the cliff and crashed heavily upon the Alliance's armor, which coincidentally had dropped its positron shield in order to fire another round of blasts at the Neo Freedom. The falling rocks caused just enough damage to the positron shield's primary emitter that when the pilot attempted to reactivate it, the entire device exploded.

Unable to bring the shield back up and suitably distracted by the unexpected destruction that had been caused, the pilot and the two gunners of the Zamza-Zah were completely overwhelmed when Akira attacked with all his weapons. The armor exploded spectacularly against the rocky cliff, scorching its surface black.

After a long moment of silence after the deafening explosion, Lhomon turned back and peeked over the edge of the cliff almost fearfully. What he saw was the burning wreckage of the armor far below him. A loud whine of an engine quickly drew Lhomon's attention and he spotted the stranger's mobile suit hovering a short distance away from him and the edge of the cliff. Lhomon knew that the stranger could see him because the head piece of the large white, black, and blue mobile suit was staring straight down at him.

Then, to Lhomon's surprise, a hatch opened up on the top of the chest of the mobile suit. The pilot rose into view, and even with his helmet on and at a reasonable distance away, Lhomon could see the appreciative smile on his face. The stranger silently raised his hand in a gesture of thanks towards Lhomon. And for some reason, Lhomon found himself raising his own hand in an answering gesture towards the stranger. Even though he knew he should hate this person for disturbing the relative, although oppressed, peace that his home had been living in, even though he somehow knew that his life would never be the same thanks to this stranger's actions here today. Lhomon found he could not bring himself to feel any negative emotions towards the stranger, only a strange feeling of respect.

Descending back inside his mobile suit, the stranger disappeared from view as the hatch closed behind him. The large mobile suit then flew high into the air where it spread its blue wings out in clear show of display for the many witnesses of the battle, most from the small town of Paro.

Turning suddenly, the mobile suit folded in onto itself, becoming that weird mobile armor that Lhomon had first seen earlier. With a powerful blast of its engines, the machine flew away in a westerly direction and rapidly disappeared from view thanks to its invisibility capabilities.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny –** KIRA

**November 4, 73 C.E.**

Newscasts all over the world displayed the attack by the newly-reborn Neo Freedom upon an undisclosed location in southeastern Eurasia. Taking into account the factory itself, the primary shipping roads, as well as the twenty-nine mobile armors lost, the total damage was calculated to be over seven billion dollars. Excluding the pilots of the defense forces, not a single innocent bystander had been killed or injured.

What accompanied those newscasts of the Neo Freedom's destruction of the mobile armor factory were a series of sudden uprisings all throughout Eurasia, seemingly inspired by the Neo Freedom's successful and decisive attack on the Alliance.

Although the Alliance was quick to place a _very_ high reward for the capture or destruction of the rogue Gundam, there have been no further sightings of the mobile suit or its mysterious pilot since.

* * *

I must say that I had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter, for obvious reasons I'm sure. That's right, Akira and Lacus finally and formally meet...but they still go their separate ways. T_T At the request of numerous of you reviewers, I decided to post this updated version of the Neo Freedom's current armaments. I hope that I explained the reason behind its abrupt lack of new weaponry well enough in the chapter. The engineers had to use the Freedom's older data because they couldn't get at the _Neo Freedom_'s info. Which means that Akira will have to make changes to them the hard way, and who doesn't enjoy that?

**IMPORTANT!! **Since I seem to be having problems setting up the poll properly on my homepage, here's a question for you readers. Should I write a prequel (Gundam SEED version) to this story, to explain what had changed and why? Please note that it's a possible project for the future and not something of _immediate_ concern...unless someone wishing to volunteer their time and services to write it for me.

Lhomon—southern land of darkness (Sanskrit translation, I believe)  
Kawayui—(1) cute, adorable, charming, lovely, pretty; (2) dear, precious, darling, pet; (3) cute little, tiny

**ZGMF-X10A Neo Freedom Gundam**** (Repaired)  
**Power plant:  
Ultra-compact nuclear fission reactor (Freedom)  
Equipment and design features:  
Sensors, range unknown (Freedom)  
Phase Shift (PS) armor (Freedom)  
Neutron Jammer Canceller (Freedom)  
G.U.N.D.A.M. Operating System (Freedom)  
Mirage Colloid (_Early Harvest_)  
Additional thrusters, hidden in wings, used mostly while in mobile armor mode (various mobile suits)  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head (Freedom)  
2 x M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon, stored in wings, mounted over shoulders in use in HiMAT (High Mobility Aerial Tactics) mode (Freedom)  
8 x 57mm high-energy beam cannons, stored inside hidden compartments of the wings, alongside the maneuverability thrusters (various mobile suits)  
2 x MMI-M15 "Xiphias" rail cannon, folded underneath hips, spread out in use in HiMAT (Freedom)  
4 x MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam sabers, two stored on waist and two on shoulders (Freedom)  
1 x dual beam claw, mounted on small shield on the right forearm, can be fired out with modified DRAGOON system (GuAIZ)  
1 x shield (Freedom)  
1 x MA-M20 "Lupus" beam rifle, stored on rear of waist (Freedom)


	10. Journeying to Western Eurasia

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 10: Journeying to Western Eurasia_

**November 6, 73 CE  
Eurasian Federation Military Outpost, Pakistan  
3:30am**

If you said the battle wasn't going well would've been grave insult to the poor souls who were locked in it and on the losing side. Despite attacking with the element of surprise on their side, as well as using seven old Strike Dagger mobile suits, the local rebels were being quickly overpowered by the newer Alliance Windam mobile suits and their superior tactics. At present there was only one remaining Strike Dagger that hadn't been destroyed, and the pilot was putting up a valiant defense for her companions as they fled into the night.

Sarah Ali Muhammad-Dikerson glared hatefully at the swarming Windams in front of her. Crouched behind a rock outcropping with her shield and rifle up, she shot with all the precision her limited view range had to offer. Glancing over at her power supply, she scowled even deeper; she was nearly in the red zone! Another three more minutes at most, even if she attempted to conserve her power.

A dangerously close beam shot past her shield and impacted heavily with the sandstone behind her, snapping her attention back towards the slowly approaching Windams. They had all but won the battle; they knew it as well as she did. Going against both training and protocol, the pilots of the Windams gave into their pride and arrogance by standing out in the open of the valley that their outpost was located in. About five Windams were firing upon her, the remaining fifteen had taken to the air to better survey the battlefield and to locate any remaining rebels.

"Sarah, come in!" a voice growled over the radio. "Withdraw for now! You're our last mobile suit. We can't afford to lose you too!"

"I know that!" Sarah barked, shooting her rifle with careful precision and was finally rewarded with seeing the targeted mobile suit explode. But before she could mentally congratulate herself, a pair of beams shot down from above by a trio of descending Windams. The beams struck her Strike Dagger in the right shoulder and left knee, crippling both joints and throwing her machine off balance.

Jolted fiercely by the vibrations as her mobile suit tumbled down from its hiding place and into a small gorge, Sarah could only close her eyes and hang onto the controls for dear life. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Strike Dagger came to a halt with one final crash. Hitting the emergency jettison switch, Sarah leapt out of the ruined mobile suit and dove for cover. Ducking behind a boulder and covering her ears, she could feel the explosion of her mobile suit's self-destruct shake the nearby earth and send vibrations through her body.

Pulling out her pistol and a pair of night-vision goggles from her bag, she watched as the Windams continued their extermination of the rebels. A group of three Windams, no less than four hundred meters away, were mercilessly mowing down the fleeing forms of jeeps and old-fashioned artillery trucks with their CIWS. The same ones she'd been attempting to protect!

"NO!" she yelled as she watched the lead missile truck explode. Her brother's truck. "Jarac!"

Through her tear-stained eyes, she watched as her remaining companions managed to reach the fallback point, a very narrow canyon with high cliff sides. It was at this point that a shower of RPGs rained down upon the Windams. Though the rocket-propelled grenades did little more than dent the improved armor, a lucky few managed to hit one of the Windams' head piece and destroyed its primary camera. Reacting to the sudden attack, the undamaged Windams shot out of the canyon and quickly spotted the retreating rebels. She knew what was coming next, so she closed her eyes and looked away.

A sudden pair of explosions tore through the air, coming from the canyon. Reflexively looking towards the explosions, Sarah expected to canyon in flames. However, the sight that greeted her was quite different. The Windam duo had been reduced to burning debris that fell lifelessly from the sky, down upon their damaged partner underneath.

"What happened?" she asked herself. There was no way the rebels could've done that! They didn't have the firepower, not without a mobile suit at least. And hers had been the last one they had.

As she continued staring in that direction, she heard the distinctive noise of a mobile suit's engines flying past her. Turning to follow the sound, a sudden gust of wind swept over her shoulders, kicking up a slight dust cloud. For just a brief moment, that dust obscured all her vision. So she was unable to see any of the ten near-instantaneous explosions that occurred.

As the dust finally cleared, Sarah was treated to a sight that she would hold in her memory for the rest of her life. Floating high in the sky in the midst of the falling debris of its targets was a winged mobile suit that she had only ever seen in the news or in clippings of the previous war. The Freedom Gundam, wings spread proudly, was firing a series of rapid shots that were so accurate and so quick that it was staggering to watch. Four more Windams were shot down before the remaining pilots finally reacted to the sudden appearance of a new powerful enemy.

Exchanging its rifle in favor of a beam saber, the Freedom dashed forward towards the three remaining Alliance mobile suits. Swinging around the first one with a grace that was almost unnatural, the Freedom easily disarmed the Windam and then kicked its engines, utterly crippling them. Raising its right arm, a pair of beam claws sprung to life as a weird shape launched itself from the Gundam's arm. The traveling beam claws quickly smashed straight through the nearest attacker's head piece before circling around and digging its claws into the engines of the already damaged Windam, sending it falling from the skies with its partner. This whole sequence took place in less than ten seconds.

Turning to the sole remaining Windam, the Freedom merely raised its right arm as its beam claws returned to it. There was a momentary lull in the battle, Sarah was almost positive the pilot of the Freedom was communicating with the Windam. Her assumption was quickly confirmed when the Windam suddenly turned and fled back towards its base like a frightened child. In response, the Freedom merely settled down upon the earth below and stood, waiting patiently.

During the next ten minutes, there was a convoy of vehicles and personnel rushing out of the base. When the last person had fled, Sarah and everyone else watched as the Freedom systematically destroyed all the important facilities of the outpost, paying _special_ attention to the mobile suit hangars and the command towers.

Once all the vital buildings had been demolished, the Freedom lifted up into the air and promptly vanished from sight.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 6, 73 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**, Carpentaria  
7:30am**

Athrun's head was positively spinning off its axis with questions about all that had transpired in the week since he'd left Orb. When he had attempted to land at Orb to dock with the _Minerva_, he was attacked by a pair of Murasames. Thankfully they gave him some crucial information before he was forced to retaliate and quickly fled. Cagalli had apparently been unable to prevent the ministers from joining the World Security Treaty Organization and that the _Minerva_ was no longer docked in the port.

But as he rode the elevator up to the bridge with that red-haired ZAFT Red, Athrun received some even more much needed information. Apparently someone had leaked information to the Earth Alliance about the time of the _Minerva_'s departure and the Alliance had sent a fleet to sink the ship. But thanks to the heroic piloting skills of Shinn and Lieutenant Koenig, they managed to survive. Despite the seriousness of the topic, Athrun couldn't help the small smile that was trying to pull across his face at the mention of Tolle once again blatantly disorders he didn't agree with. However the biggest shock came from a relatively minor comment. Cagalli had gotten _MARRIED?!!_

For just a moment, Athrun could only stare lifelessly at the floor in front of him as he saw the future he'd hoped for at Cagalli's side slipping out of his reach. So lost in his own agonizing despair, Athrun hadn't even noticed the elevator doors opening at their desired level. Only the girl's voice managed to pierce his clouded mind and return him back to the present. She then gave him some bad news that was truly frightening. Cagalli had been kidnapped halfway through the wedding ceremony and nobody knew where she was. How much more bad news could she possibly give him?! Well, apparently, she had one last piece of bad news for him: she didn't know the full story.

He was left to stew on the countless possibilities until shortly after he'd been debriefed by Captain Talia Gladys. During that debriefing, he found himself understanding the overall picture far better. Once the _Minerva_ was finished with repairs from its previous battle, as well as upgrades for all mobile suits aboard, they were to head out for Gibraltar to aid in the attack of Suez. These orders were rather peculiar since the _Minerva_ was clearly designed for use in space, not the atmosphere.

"Captain," he said, turning back to face the newly-promoted FAITH agent. "Do you know what's happening with Orb? I've been out of the loop, so I still don't know what happened there."

"Right," the slightly surprised blonde said. "Well, they're going through a difficult time right now with their Chief Representative being kidnapped. The Orb government is doing its best to cover up what happened." That was news that he'd already head, so Athrun was far from surprised. "But the unofficial word is that the Fortitude and the _Archangel_ abducted the Representative."

_Now_ he was surprised. "Tolle?" After a moment, he felt a fifty-ton weight be pulled off his shoulders. Cagalli would…arguably be safe as long as she was on the _Archangel_ and Tolle was there to protect her.

"But that's not all," Captain Gladys said in a neutral voice. "I refrained from mentioning this earlier because it wasn't part of the official debriefing. But a few days before the abduction, the Neo Freedom was spotted flying out of the Morgenroete facility in Orb."

Athrun's gaze snapped up to Gladys' in an instant. The captain had complete seriousness in her expression as she continued, "And ever since then, there have been numerous reports on the media about the Neo Freedom appearing randomly to aid rebels and revolutionaries throughout eastern and central Eurasia, always seeming to head west afterwards."

"Has there been any news as to what Kira's intentions are?" Athrun asked, clenching his briefcase tightly to help him maintain at least a margin of military discipline. "Or how the Neo Freedom just appeared in Morgenroete? Was it being repaired?"

"I'm afraid there's been no news whatsoever," Gladys denied. "The Orb government claims that they had no idea of the Neo Freedom's presence in one of their most secure facilities. And that the true identity of the pilot of the Neo Freedom still has yet to be confirmed, along with what he hopes to accomplish."

Thanking the blonde as he bowed, Athrun turned and left the two officers to their duties. He still had a few calculations to make to the ZGMF-X23S Savior Gundam's OS and fine-tune the rifle targeting system.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 10, 73 CE  
Toshkent Airport, Uzbekistan  
7:27pm**

Information about the numerous rebellions that were springing up all over Eurasia was so common that he could've found it on even the civilian networks. However, learning where the troop movements, supply routes, military installations, mobile suit and armor factories, radio/communication towers, and even the command outposts were located was a considerably more difficult job for Akira with his limited resources. He often found himself having to hack into an installation's network before he attacked it with the Neo Freedom.

The information he was fishing for was always becoming more and more depressing in a manner. No matter how many factories he destroyed (only three at this point) or how much damage he caused to the military, there seemed to be no end to hostilities towards the civilians. Why weren't they trying to come after him instead of leaving the civilians alone? None of the military databases he'd hacked so far had any information about that question, only a rather minor announcement about the Neo Freedom's various appearances and actions.

He had soon realized that they simply weren't taking him seriously enough as a threat to their overall operations. To them, he was nothing more than a minor nuisance who couldn't be shot down very easily. Why? It was because he was only one Gundam with _limited_ funds and no real public backing, despite his apparent aid. He needed to make a serious move against the government in order for them to start taking him seriously.

That was why he was here at this moment. The information he'd come across had been some of the most disturbing yet. The military had apparently met some especially fierce resistance from this area and had actually been pushed back several times by the revolutionaries' unwavering resolve. However, it seemed that with the increased militia that was being marshaled into the area to finally overcome the rebels, new orders had been issued as well. The soldiers were apparently given free rein of whatever happened on the battlefield, and all civilian causalities were to be considered as nothing more than _collateral damage_. But what made these new orders even worse was the fact that they were targeting the primary means of transportation like highways, railways, and airports in an effort to cut off the rebels' supply routes. Strategically speaking, it was an obvious and generally effective means of attrition and guerilla warfare.

As he surveyed the situation from high in the air, safely cloaked under Mirage Colloid, he studied the layout of the battlefield. The city itself was a positively chaotic deathtrap for either civilian or soldier, given how the two sides intermixed there. Ultimately it would come down to better suburban warfare tactics and absolute resolve to win that battle. As it was, the two sides were surprisingly well matched.

However, the airport was a completely different story. The defenders had drawn their line and were fighting with everything they had to protect the civilians inside who were attempting to flee on the rapidly departing planes. What few mobile suits the defenders had available were all stationed around the runways in an effort to protect the fragile planes as they took flight. And despite their best efforts, the defenders were steadily and quickly being pushed back with more and more enemy mobile suits getting dangerously close to the loading planes.

Akira ground his teeth together as he watched the defenders' lines waver dangerously once again as a plane began to roll out to take-off. Swinging the Neo Freedom down into a steep dive, he changed it back into a mobile suit and took careful aim at the attacking side of Windams. Disabling the Mirage Colloid as he took the shots, his beams struck home and sent the damaged units crashing to ground unceremoniously. Landing the midst of their lines, the Neo Freedom turned and slammed its large shield into the head piece of one Windam, utterly smashing it, as it shot out the knees of another.

"Stop it!" he yelled over the radio as he switched the Lupus rifle for his beam saber. "Can't you see they're just civilians in those planes?!"

Either he was yelling over the wrong channel or something, but none of the Windam pilots seemed to have had a response to his accusation. Instead, they answered his aggression with their own. Scowling at their actions, the Neo Freedom turned and stabbed its shield into the torso of the next nearest Windam, missing the cockpit but still heavily damaging the motor. Spinning around as the Windam collapsed, he swung his beam saber in an arc to ward off the lunging unit at his back. Before the pilot of that unit could properly recoil and prepare another attack, a beam shot through its cockpit from the side, destroying the machine and the human life inside in an instant. Glancing over from where the shot came from, Akira realized that he'd just gained some cover fire from the defenders.

Akira would've smiled if he hadn't seen something out of the corner of his monitor. Turning the Freedom, the image he'd glimpsed came into full view. A pair of Dopplehorn Windams aiming for the plane that was now in the midst of taking off. As he stared at the scene, something at the back of his mind seemed to start to pulse painfully. But since his attention was focused more on the battle, he didn't have the willpower to suppress the pain like he always did before.

_He was engaged in a fierce battle with a blue Gundam. They were falling through the atmosphere but that didn't stop either of them from trying to kill one another. As they momentarily separated, a shuttle passed between the battling titans. A shuttle that he somehow knew was filled with innocent civilians._

Before he even knew what he was doing, he'd pushed his mobile suit forward, flying at the best possible speeds he could achieve. "Don't do it!"_ he yelled over the universal radio channel. _"They're onlycivilians!"

"_You soldiers wanna be __**cowards**__ and run away, __**do ya?!**__" an angry voice yelled out over the radio._

The Windams fired, their shots seeming to lance out into eternity as time slowed to a crawl. _Despite his best efforts to protect the shuttle, the single shot tore through it. This quickly resulted in an explosion as the atmospheric friction ripped it apart, sparing no one._

"NO!!" Akira yelled, launching both his shields forward. The massive pieces of metal narrowly missed colliding with the plane as it flew past. Through the combined surface area of the two shields, the plane was effectively protected from the blasts, which were redirected safely skyward.

For one eternal moment, Akira felt as though he was floating on air. He'd…he'd saved them. _He'd protected them!_ He let out a small sigh of absolute relief as his DRAGOON shield returned safely to the Freedom's arm.

A sudden beam of green suddenly shot forward, tearing linearly through the entire fuselage of the plane, killing many in an instant. Time slowed to crawl as the beam detonated the remaining fuel in the small shuttle, blowing it to pieces right in front of his eyes. Through the cameras of the Gundam's head piece, Akira could clearly and easily see the occupants of the plane, old, young, large, and small, be engulfed in unforgiving fire as the plane exploded right in front of him. Due to his close proximity to the plane as it blew up, the Neo Freedom was knocked out of the skies.

Tears quickly formed in Akira's as the Neo Freedom impacted heavily on the runway underneath him. '_I…couldn't…I __**tried**__…but I…couldn't…_' his entire body was shaking as soul-shattering sobs tore through his being. _**WHY?!**__ Why did they have to die like that?! THEY WERE ONLY __**CIVILIANS!!!**_

As that thought passed through his mind, Akira felt something explode in the back of his mind. As his eyes glazed over, the berserk blond pulled his Gundam back to its feet. With the wreckage burning fiercely behind him, silhouetting his machine with a fiery background, Akira had only one thought on his mind.

And that thought was: _They are going to pay!! __**ALL OF THEM!!!**_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 12, 73 CE  
Near Imeni Kirova, Turkmenistan  
9:09pm**

The rugged mountain range that marked the southern border between Turkmenistan and Iran had very few roads through them and even fewer travelers. That made this an ideal spot to hide in, especially since he'd chanced across a monstrous cave that could easily hide his Gundam from satellite and aerial observation. And with what he was currently tinkering on, the Neo Freedom would've been a bit awkward to fight in if he was forced to.

With the Gundam crouched down on one knee, its wings resting against a nearby wall for added support, Akira was draped upside-down from the joint of the right wing with a bag of various tools hanging close at hand. Hanging over the edge of the wing, just out of reach in case he slipped and flailed about, was a lamp that provided him with some much needed light in the complete darkness of the cavern he had taken shelter in. With a final twist, he managed to maneuver the heavy, protesting bolt into place. Letting out a small sigh, Akira pulled himself upright and snatched his laptop. Typing in various commands, he watched with interest as the new joint moved and folded slowly, testing its maneuverability and strength.

"Well, that's one down," he said with a sad, resigned grin on his face. "Only three more to go…" It had taken him almost twelve hours to construct, properly install, and now test this new joint. And he still needed to perform at least a dozen more measurements, calculations, calibrations, adjustments, and further testing just to make sure this _one joint_ would work as he planned. Plus he needed to go and…acquire the necessary supplies in order to build the next three! "Yippee."

Pulling himself entirely up onto the wing joint he'd been hanging from, he set aside his laptop and grabbed a bottle of water, chugging it greedily. Though he had plenty of experience working on the Neo Freedom, it never ceased to annoy him how exhausting it was to do this kind of work alone. Sure, he'd had plenty of available help in the Mathilde Colony, but he and Professor had usually found themselves working alone more often than not. That was one of the reasons that repairing and revamping the Neo Freedom had taken so long.

_He blocked the blue Gundam's beam saber with his shield. His enemy similarly blocked his saber as they continued to fall through the atmosphere. The interior of the cockpit was very quickly becoming an oven from the friction, but he ignored it as his attention was trained solely upon his enemy._

"_**You're finished!**__" his opponent snarled over the radio._

"_You won't defeat me!" he growled back as they separated._

Shaking his head to clear it, Akira grabbed his forehead as he forcefully repressed the memory yet again. As much as he wanted to push it along, follow the trail that he'd finally found in his mind, he couldn't. He had a mission to do, something much more important than finding a lost identity. And as much as that decision saddened him, he knew that it was the right choice.

But despite his best efforts to prevent himself, he couldn't stop from asking one significant question about the recovered memory: _why had he been battling the GAT-X102 Duel in the upper atmosphere?_

Growling in annoyance with himself, Akira collected his tools and accessories and leapt over to the cockpit. He had more pressing issues to deal with! Like that finding and repairing the 'electrical interference' that shorted out his Xiphias rail cannons in the battle at Bhutan. He'd been intending to repair them but constantly found himself being sidetracked. Well not this time!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 19, 73 CE  
Mahamul ZAFT Base, Kuwait  
8:32pm**

Whatever relief the crew of the _Minerva_ may have felt when they pulled into the harbor of a friendly base was rudely stripped away when they learned of the impending battle they were about to be involved in. Oh sure, they knew that their current orders were to head to Gibraltar to support the eventual attack on Suez. However, after the little skirmish off the coast of Malaysia, a fair portion of the crew couldn't help but hope for a short reprieve while at Mahamul.

Lunamaria let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the pilots' lounge. She'd just taken a much needed shower and now, dressed in a clean uniform, she felt incredibly refreshed. But at the same time, she was also feeling rather tired. Falling asleep on the stiff couch she sat upon seemed surprisingly good idea. However, the other current resident of the couch beside her had something in his hands that quickly diverted her attention and interest.

"Now this is something I wouldn't have thought you'd do in your spare time, Shinn," she said with an obvious note of amusement in her teasing voice. "Why are you reviewing our fight outside Orb?"

Giving his fellow pilot an annoyed glare, he growled out, "Because I want to."

As he returned his attention to his small laptop, Lunamaria unobtrusively watched as he boosted the magnification and slowed the battle scene down to an eighth of normal speed. But on the center of the screen was a blurry image of the Fortitude Gundam as it painstakingly slowly maneuvered between a series of enemy attacks. Within moments, her attention was drawn towards the strange light emissions that were shining from its engines, always leaving that particular afterimage behind to mark its movements.

"You know," Lunamaria said as she drew up closer to him to better watch the Orb Gundam's performance. "I've been wondering lately why and how the Lieutenant's Gundam was able to do that. It's something to do with the engines, right?"

Letting out another annoyed sigh, Shinn resigned himself to putting up with the girl and her obsession with any new mobile suit technologies she wasn't familiar with. She'd been like this ever since he'd first met her in the academy. At that time, she'd still been drooling over the many different battle footages of the Freedom, Justice, and the Alliance's second generation experimental Gundams.

"Did you notice how the Fortitude seemed to respond faster when its engines are glowing like?" Lunamaria rambled on as she commandeered Shinn's laptop before he could protest. "And that none of the Windams or that armor could get a proper lock on it? I wonder if the engines emit some kind of anti-weapons' lock or radar-jammer? Do you think that that weird light eats up the Fortitude's power? It sure didn't last that very long in the fight before Tolle had to power-down the armor when we were leaving. Then again, the battle was already over and he was flying back to his fleet."

"Luna, give me my computer back!" Shinn demanded as he made a grab for his laptop. His annoyance was quickly turning to anger as the redhead rattled off many of his own questions that he had yet to answer himself.

"Aw, come on!" the girl whined childish as she was denied an opportunity to indulge herself in her hobby. She tried to reach over Shinn to grab the thing he had reclaimed and was holding protectively away from her clingy fingers. "I'm curious about it too!"

"No way, Luna!" Shinn barked as he tried to push her away with touching anything he wasn't supposed to. "I know you! I'll never my get laptop back!"

"Five minutes! That's all I want!" she begged, making another attempt at the device in his hands. "I promise!"

"NO!"

Quiet chuckling sounded from the lounge's doorway, quickly drawing both their attentions. There stood the new FAITH agent, Commander Athrun Zala, trying futilely to hide the smile on his face with a sudden small coughing fit. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Seeing his chance, Shinn slipped out of Lunamaria's reach, which sent the off-balance teenager sprawling to the floor. Letting out a relieved sigh that he'd managed to protect his computer from Luna's Gundam-obsession, he closed the device as he turned a slightly neutral gaze upon his superior. No matter how wise Athrun may have been, which he'd momentarily shared out on the observatory deck with Shinn only a few short hours ago, it was still going to take a bit of time before the Orb-emigrant would be able to get over his animosity of anything or anyone related to Orb or the damned Athhas.

"Nothing special," he answered coolly. "What do you want? Here for another lecture, Commander?"

Scowling in annoyance at his subordinate, Athrun replied in a voice that was as coolly composed as Shinn's had been. "Not everything in this world revolves around you, Shinn. And if you must know, I was going to watch the news." He suited words with actions by walking past them and bringing up an Earth Alliance channel that discussing the assassination of a respected Spain Alliance official, suspected to be the work of more terrorists and rebels.

Before he could leave the young Commander, Shinn became acutely aware of a sad fact: he'd lost track of Luna during his conversation. Catching Shinn flatfooted, Lunamaria was easily able to snatch his laptop and jump safely over the couch before he could react. Quickly booting up the earlier program, Lunamaria danced out of Shinn's frantic lunge and into Athrun's face with the monitor.

"Hey, Commander Zala," she asked in her 'cute voice' as the blue-haired Coordinator was forced to respond to her. "Do you know why or how the Fortitude is able to do these things?"

Athrun stared blankly at Lunamaria's over-eager face as she beckoned his gaze unto the monitor she held in front of him. He was beginning to suspect that she was a mobile suit fanatic because that was the same voice tone she'd used when he'd let her tinker with his Savior when he'd first arrived on the _Minerva_. As far as he could remember to this point, it was the only time she sounded so…girly with all the squealing she did in her excitement.

Without even looking at the monitor, Athrun let out a sigh as he calmly said, "It's a combination of Mirage Colloid and a new light propulsion system called Voiture Lumiere. When this system is activated, the engines' light scatters the Colloid particles around the Fortitude, which creates the afterimage effect. That's as much as I know about it, Tolle wouldn't tell me anything else about it."

"But…if _that's_ all, why can't any of the Windams hit him?" Lunamaria asked, not putting up any fight when Shinn snatched his computer out of her hands. Her attention was focused entirely on Athrun. "Does this 'Voiture Lumiere' thing or maybe the Mirage Colloid cause some kind of _targeting_ interference or something?"

"Like I just said, I don't know anything more than what I've just told you," the young Zala responded, which caused the girl to pout cutely in her disappointment. Athrun decided not to question why Shinn was so interested in an Orb Gundam, since it was clearly Shinn's computer. Instead, he returned his attention to the screen to watch the news.

As Lunamaria and Shinn quickly got into another discussion about the effectiveness of this Voiture Lumiere system in one of their own mobile suits, and Athrun's attention on the news report, none of them noticed a certain blond pilot quietly walk back out of the doorway from which he'd been standing in. He'd heard every word that Athrun had said about the Fortitude's secrets, and he knew that Gilbert would be very interested to hear about them.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 19, 73 CE  
****Bandar-e Anzali, Iran  
8:50pm**

Strategically speaking, the port of the small town Bandar-e Anzali, Iran had never really held much military significance for the Alliance. In the first war with ZAFT, the Battle of Suez had taken place in one day at near the beginning of the battles on Earth itself. As such, the Alliance hadn't had proper time to truly secure it or the lands surrounding the canal. Now that they had the time to properly plan out a decent defensive strategy, they had quickly realized the importance of patrolling and controlling the Middle East so they could maintain their supply lines.

However, due to the landscape of the region, sending the troops to perform the necessary duties of protecting the supply routes from the north or east was essentially stupidity in the making. The convoy would more than likely be forced to use up the supplies needed for the Suez Base just to make the trip over land themselves. Yet they had quickly realized that transporting the supplies across the Caspian Sea and then across the northwestern region of the Middle East cut the travel cost down by half. And with all the resources they were concentrating in Europe to suppress the high amounts of rebellions taking place, this route was honestly their own one that was readily and safely available.

And since Bandar-e Anzali was the town closest to the one ravine that had a clear path through the mountains in the area, the Alliance had made it a top priority to protect this newly built naval port and the nearby power plant. If they lost this one port, the resources available for Suez would quickly dry up like the climate it was built in, making it that much more convenient for ZAFT to mop it up. But the defense that the Alliance had put in place was a formidable one: a Lohengrin positron cannon and Gells-Ghe mobile armor with a positron reflector. Combined with a significant force of easily ten Windams and twenty Dagger L mobile suits, that battle was not going to be as simple as the last few he'd gotten himself involved in.

However, Akira's target was not the actual forces at all. It was the naval port for which they had been placed there to begin with. The Alliance was making a truly grave mistake here. Unlike its protection in the ravine, the port itself was surprisingly defenseless by comparison, only a single pair of Strike Daggers. The defenders were much more concerned with holding the ravine open than they did of the reasons _why_ they were. He couldn't believe the stupidity of the Alliance leader who organized this plan. Although the twenty mile distance between the port and the Lohengrin Gate was only a few short minutes of flight for a mobile suit of any model.

As he quietly sipped his milkshake from the small diner he was sitting in, he continued to survey the information that he'd hacked from the naval port's computer network. Through it, he found some interesting rumors about a possible second ZAFT attack on the Lohengrin cannon. Apparently some 'secret' but savage Alliance unit, called only Phantom Pain in the report, had had an encounter out in the Indian Ocean with the _Minerva_. The commander of the unit had stated his suspicion of the _Minerva_ heading towards Gibraltar. However, to reach Gibraltar from Carpentaria, they would either have to travel all the way around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope or take the land route through their base at Mahamul.

Since Akira knew it was practically guaranteed that the captain of the _Minerva_ would want to the quickest and most efficient route, the Mahamul would've most assuredly taken on some new visitors by this point. And because he knew the significance of the Suez Canal base, as well as this naval port here, as easily as ZAFT and the Alliance did, Akira was more than willing to bet that the _Minerva_ would be forced to take part in an offensive action against the Lohengrin cannon to help clear a path to Gibraltar for itself. That was the most obvious course of action. The Alliance seemed to realize this as well and were already preparing their forces at the Gate for that possibility, even though this 'Phantom Pain's' commander was just an opinion from a single man.

Thinking for a moment, Akira considered his options. On one hand, he could simply destroy the port now and then head over to the Gate under Mirage Colloid and destroy the cannon before any more lives were lost. But to do that would put the Alliance on high alert before he ever got close enough. Plus he didn't have any information on the actual placements of the defenses that surrounded the cannon, so he'd be fighting blind until they revealed themselves. Though he may not like the thought of actively helping ZAFT in a battle to slowly strengthen their chokehold on the planet, it was the surest way of getting the Alliance to focus more energy on pursuing him and leaving the scattered rebellions alone.

"Please, daughter, think this through!" a quiet voice hissed from somewhere nearby.

If it hadn't been for Coordinator-enhanced hearing, Akira wouldn't have even noticed the hushed whisper. Glancing ever so slightly to the side, he saw out of the corner of his eye a young local girl and what seemed to be her mother having an argument. The pair seemed to be extremely determined to keep their conversation between themselves as they were throwing near constant glances around themselves, looking for anyone who might be giving them too much attention. Feeling interested, Akira closed his eyes as he made a big show of drinking his milkshake before pretending to return his attention to the computer in front of him.

"I already have, mother," the girl whispered, determination thick in her quiet voice. "I'm going to help ZAFT destroy the accursed cannon! For our people! For Father!"

"And what'll I do if you don't return, like your father?!" her mother demanded fiercely. "You're all I got left, Coniel! Don't leave me all alone."

"I'm not going to be doing any of the fighting, mother," the girl, Coniel, muttered in an exasperated voice. "I'm just going to help them get closer to the cannon."

"Closer to the—you mean the cave?!" the mother asked, sounding torn between hopeful, reprimanding, and surprised.

"Yes, I am," Coniel said, there was a level of maturity and seriousness that sounded positively foreign coming from such a young face as hers. "ZAFT are the good guys this time! And I'm going to help them win this stupid war."

Sighing loudly to himself, Akira closed his laptop and stood. His sudden movement attracted the attentions of both mother and daughter and they watched wearily as the stranger walked over towards them. Turning a serious gaze upon the small girl sitting below him, he quietly said, "Anyone who builds weapons during a time of peace can hardly be considered a 'good guy' since he can just as easily turn those weapons upon those who he's supposed to be protecting."

"What are you talking about, mister?" Coniel demanded in a seemingly innocent tone of voice, playing the role of a naïve child perfectly. However, there was a definite edge of awareness and cunning in those 'gentle' green eyes of her, which were mirrored perfectly in her own mother.

Both females watched the blond young man standing in front of them carefully. It was thanks to their scrupulous examination of him that they spotted something particular. Even though his hair was blond, the roots of his hair were dark brown, maybe even black. He'd dyed his hair? And how could he have heard their whispered conversation from the other side of the diner? Was he a Coordinator?!

"Let's not play games," Akira said quietly. "Say you do lend help to ZAFT, and they do eventually defeat the Alliance because of your help, what will they do next? If ZAFT does defeat the Alliance, Chairman Durandal will become the most powerful man in the world and space. Do you truly believe that he will really give up all that power that he's acquired by that point?"

"What are you trying to say?" Coniel demanded hotly. "That ZAFT is as much at fault for starting the Alliance's stupid war as Blue Cosmos?"

"Yes," Akira responded. "If Durandal truly wanted peace, he most certainly wouldn't have sent more ZAFT forces to Earth. By his actions, he has deliberately escalated the war, all the while hiding behind the image that the PLANTs and himself are faultless in this conflict. And by using that fake Lacus Clyne to support his every move, he's winning public favor to completely dominate the world."

"Fake Lacus?" the mother asked, sounding as genuinely surprised as the young girl he was staring at looked.

"Yes, _fake_," Akira confirmed. "Do you truly believe that the real Lacus Clyne would attempt to talk people in going to war, after all her efforts in the last war to bring about a ceasefire and peace?"

Seeing that he'd completely bewildered the pair, Akira let out another sigh of resignation. There was no point to this conversation; they were steadfast in their belief that the Alliance was completely to blame for the war, especially the little girl. To attempt to convince them otherwise would take a great deal more effort and solid proof on his part before they'd change their opinions. Besides, he had some serious scouting to do if he wanted to destroy the positron cannon with as minimal loss of life as possible before ZAFT arrived to screw everything up.

Shaking his head, he stepped back and bowed slightly to them. "I'm sorry about disturbing your conversation with my weird questions. Have a nice evening, you two."

As he was heading for the doorway, a young voice called out, "Who are you?"

Glancing back with a serious expression, Akira saw only curiosity on the young girl's face. "I'm Akira Iyadomi." He had left and completely disappeared from sight by the time Coniel had managed to rush to the door and look around for him frantically.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**November 19, 73 CE  
**_**Archangel**_**, Scandinavia  
9:23pm**

With a heavy heart, the pink princess watched yet another news channel that was broadcasting the current state of unbalance within the Alliance. There were so many people within Eurasia, particularly in western Eurasia, that were openly rebelling against the Atlantic Federation. And though she could easily understand their driving need for liberty and justice, Lacus felt that they were taking the most painful path to achieve it. Especially because the Alliance was attempting to suppress the rebellions with brute force, which only enticed the revolutionaries to increase their efforts.

"Anything interesting on?" the Orb official asked as she walked into Lacus' quarters, dressed in her usual government uniform.

"No," Lacus replied softly as she changed the channel absentmindedly. "It's all the same as yesterday." Then the Neo Freedom appeared on screen, it was a report on yet another attack the Gundam had caused, this time in northern Iran.

Taking one look at the machine as it was shown destroying a horde of Windams in an instant; Lacus felt her heart ache once again at the reminder. She truly wished that Kira would've come with them onboard the _Archangel_.

As though summoned by her thoughts, a soft impact on her shoulder drew her attention. "Torii?" the green, mechanical bird chirped in an almost questioning manner. The gentle toy drew a heartfelt smile from Lacus as she watched it shuffle about on her shoulder. "Torii."

"Torii?" Cagalli gasped slightly as she quickly spotted her brother's dearest possession. "I haven't seen that Torii since…a long time now."

"Yes," Lacus agreed. "I finally found a good reason to bring it out again."

"That reminds me, I heard from Commander Waltfeld that the Neo Freedom saved you from your attackers," Cagalli said in a stiff voice, earning Lacus' attention. Nodding in response to the blonde's statement, Lacus spared a brief glance at Cagalli's frowning face before returning her attention to the monitor. Letting her anger filter through, the Representative demanded, "Why did you let him _leave_ with the Freedom?"

This time giving her friend her full attention, Lacus could see her anger and frustration clearly. Why was she so angry? "Miss Cagalli?"

"How could you let a _complete_ stranger like him take Kira's machine?!" Cagalli demanded, her voice rising in her anger. "I'd have thought you would've tried to stop him when he got out or at least tried to convince him to come with you! Why did you let him run off like that?!"

Quietly contemplating her earlier decision and Cagalli's questions, Lacus' eyes drifted back to the screen where the Freedom was once again shown destroying the Windams. Within a moment, she returned her attention to her friend and said, "Cagalli, do you know how he introduced himself to us when he disembarked from the Neo Freedom?"

"Commander Waltfeld and Captain Ramius only said that his name was Akira Iyadomi," though her voice was softer now, it was still laden with anger. "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I believe his exact words were 'you can call me Akira Iyadomi,'" Lacus said, staring at Cagalli intensely to see if she'd see the significance in that statement. Apparently she didn't. "Also, whenever he was around us, Mr. Iyadomi was always rubbing his head, like he was in great pain."

"What are you trying to say, Lacus?" Cagalli asked, her frown now prominent on her face again. "That Akira is…_our_ Kira?"

"Torii!" the bird chirped as it bounced from Lacus' shoulder to Cagalli's.

Closing her eyes sadly, Lacus gently shook her head. "I think that…he may have once been our Kira…but that he's forgotten all about us and himself."

"Wha—But then—Why didn't you try to stop him?!" Cagalli cried out.

Turning back to the news channel, Lacus sadly said, "As we are now, Miss Cagalli, we can only wait for the best opportunity to make our appearance. But I believe he is in a position that we can never be… Mr. Iyadomi isn't bound by our restrictions and doesn't have to worry about consequences, no matter what he does. He has shown to and likely will continue to fight for the good of the people, alone. And whether through his actions or the consequences of those actions, he believes that he may finally bring the people together…even if it means they must hunt him."

"We, on the Archangel, as a part of Terminal, will only fight when we have to. We are the Earth and the PLANTs' white knights." Looking back at Cagalli with tear-filled eyes, Lacus said, "And Akira has become our dark knight."

**

* * *

**

**(Author's Note)** Big time shout-out to **animefan29**! Thanks for the beta-review, my friend!

I know the chapter is rather scattered, touch-and-go, and completely random and cliché in places. But I was running into some issues in deciding whether or not Akira should partake in the Battle of Lohengrin Gate or not as I slowly maneuvered him ever closer to the battlefield. And I have no more idea of what's going to happen than any of you until I finally reach that point.

I think I'll leave the answer of that question up to a poll (if I can manage to get it working this time!). In case I can't get it up in time, feel free to leave your opinions on the matter in a review please! Regardless of what that poll's ultimate outcome is, I think everyone knows what's going to happen to that poor harbor…

On a request of **animefan29**, I decided to include a brief explanation of how Tolle's Fortitude was able to create those afterimages when only the Voiture Lumiere on the Destiny has been shown capable of doing that. Here's my official response to that question:  
The Voiture Lumiere system used in the Fortitude is a very unique version of it. When it has the time to sufficiently power up, the engines emit small amounts of Mirage Colloid particles, which in turn creates the afterimage effect. It is nowhere _near_ as good as the Destiny's version (which had been built for that explicit purpose) since this is only an _experimental_ model installed by Erica Simmons on a whim.


	11. Differences of Brutality and Necessity

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 11: Differences of Brutality and Necessity_

**November 20, 73 CE  
Bandar-e Anzali, Iran  
6:43pm**

The day after he'd had that brief conversation with that little girl and her mother in the diner, Akira had been feeling his sixth sense tingling even more vibrantly than it had been since he entered the port town. It had taken some careful maneuvering on his part because his stalkers were surprisingly skilled at remaining unobtrusive to his wandering eyes. There were easily six different people following and watching him at all times that day until he finally managed to corner one in a hardware store.

Letting out a sigh, Akira resisted the urge to make any snide comments about how utterly ridiculous this entire situation was. How he gone from _seemingly_ shopping for a few new sets of tools to being handcuffed, blindfolded, and led through a secret underground tunnel system so quickly? And he knew for a fact that that's where he currently was due to the cool, damp air, the smell of mud and dirt that seemed to cling to the walls, as well as the uneven surface for which he walked upon.

Thanks to his strange sixth sense, despite being blindfolded, he could still almost 'see' where he was going with an almost disturbing clarity. In front of him he could vaguely sense a trio of armed men. He couldn't really 'see' necessarily, but he could sense their slight hostility. This caused a vague sense of danger, alerting him to where they were in reference to himself. The same could be said about the other trio of armed locals behind, who were keeping their weapons at the ready as he was led through the twisting maze of the underground tunnels.

However, Akira had quickly realized that they were attempting to confuse him. He could tell that they were leading him in circles, thanks again to his strange awareness. He knew this because not only could he sense their hostility at him, but he could also feel slight changes in wind and air pressure whenever they passed a particular set of corridors.

Finally, after what must've been ten minutes, they reached a set of doors. Once inside, the blindfold was removed and he once again had to resist making a snide comment. The room only had a single light which hung in the center, over the only table and a pair of chairs. There were no windows and there was no possible exit except for the door he'd come through. Sitting at the opposite end of the table was the interrogator to match the scene, looking like he should've belonged in some cliché spy film; a hard-faced breaded man with a deep scowl of suspicion.

"So you're the young man I've been hearing so much about," the man said without an introduction as Akira was forcefully seated into the nearest chair. "Akira Iyadomi."

"What do you want?" Akira asked in a neutral voice. "I have things to do and places to go. I do not have time to waste being interrogated like a common criminal."

"You should show some respect to your superiors," one of the guards snapped as they took up positions along to the side of the table and around Akira.

"Where is your Gundam, boy?" the breaded man demanded, his gaze not wavering from Akira's face.

Looking the man straight in the eye, Akira stretched out his awareness. He couldn't sense any emotions, but that sense of hostility that was slowly causing his danger sense to go haywire seemed to dampen slightly as they waited for his answer. "A Gundam? What makes you think that I even have one of those?"

"Don't play the fool, Iyadomi," the man barked, anger beginning to blossom inside him. "We all know you were the pilot of the Neo Freedom when Junius 7 fell."

"_How_ do you know that?" Akira asked, his gaze deceivingly annoyed as he stared at breaded individual. "And just who are you anyway?"

"ZAFT is doing its best to cover-up all information regarding the Neo Freedom," the man said dismissively. "But the Alliance spies in ZAFT are very good at their work. It was a simple matter for some of us here to start hearing rumors about the legendary Freedom being piloted by a dead ZAFT soldier. We also know that you've been raiding and destroying Alliance factories and outposts throughout Eurasia for the past month… And you can call me Ahmed if you must."

Akira wasn't sure if he was angry at the Alliance for spreading rumors or at ZAFT for failing to keep his alias identity a secret. That would mean that he'd have to start establishing whole new identities in order for whenever he had to visit a city or town, so no one would jump to conclusions like these people had.

"Where is your Gundam?" Ahmed repeated his original question. "I know you still have it and that you are fighting to takedown the wretched Alliance, like the rest of us. We need that Gundam, more than anywhere else. And I know that you know this just as well as we do."

"You want me to destroy the Lohengrin," Akira said bluntly, a small frown on his face. "Unless I'm mistaken, one of your people already has plans to bring ZAFT in. Why do you want me to do your dirty work when you've already allied yourselves with someone else?"

Ahmed's frown was his only outward expression. However, Akira's special awareness easily picked up on a sudden spike of danger. He must've pissed them off with that last comment. "While it is true that young Coniel is going to be our representative and will deliver some crucial data to the ZAFT task force, not all of us are willing to pin all our hopes on their success. As the Alliance has already demonstrated, they are quite capable of defending the Lohengrin with deadly force. We want an ace ready to come into play if things start to go badly."

Akira was silent for a moment as he stared at his interrogator. Ahmed's firm gaze made it clear that he believed in what he said. He certainly hoped that ZAFT would triumph in the battle now that they were being given some new information, but he was fearful for his family and people in case things went wrong. The guards all seemed to mirror his sentiments to a small degree as well.

"You believe that destroying the Lohengrin will cripple the Alliance power here," Akira said, resting his still-cuffed hands upon the table as he lowered his gaze. "And that once ZAFT is able to destroy Suez, you will be able to live in peace… That once ZAFT has completely destroyed the Alliance's military strength, they will return to the PLANTs and you will simply carry on living your lives."

"Where are you going with this?" Ahmed asked, his frown deepening.

"Once the Earth Alliance has been destroyed, Chairman Gilbert Durandal will become the most powerful man in the world. Do you believe that the man will simply give up all that power once he's tasted what he can do with it? Power corrupts even the purest of souls; history has shown that repeatedly throughout its course."

"He's spouting the same crap that Coniel told us about," one of the guards said suddenly, scowling in anger. "Chairman Durandal is a _good_ man and the PLANTs _aren't_ to blame for this stupid war!"

"Do you really believe that?" Akira asked in a quiet voice, glancing at the speaker with a hard gaze in his false-blue eyes. Seeing the man's unwavering resolve was so obvious that even if Akira had been blindfolded it would've been visible. "Why do you believe that? Is it because he's got a fake Lacus Clyne supporting his every move? Is it because he said that he didn't want to acquire new territory, despite sending more ZAFT forces to Earth? Or is it because you simply just want to follow a man who will make tough decisions for you and will have others do the work for you?"

Anger was radiating from each of the men in the room, though at differing levels and intensity. "Are you saying that you're a supporter of the Atlantic Federation?" one of the other guards demanded hotly

"I fight for neither ZAFT nor the Earth Alliance," Akira replied, turning his gaze back to Ahmed, who had remained silent for the past few moments. "While I admit that the Earth Alliance is playing the role of the bad guy quite well at the moment, I'm not going to join the ZAFT campaign of discreetly conquering the world. I'm only trying to end the war while saving as many lives as possible, be it ZAFT or Alliance, civilian or soldier."

"I see," Ahmed said, silencing any comments that the guards had likely been planning to make. He turned and gazed unseeingly to the side, no doubt in deep thought. After a moment of careful thinking, he turned back to Akira with a calculating gaze in his eyes. "I understand your point of view, Mr. Iyadomi… However, I'm sure that many others will not. They will eventually hunt you down and execute you like a common war criminal. In the end, you will have accomplished nothing."

Akira's gaze was passionately resolute. "If I must become the target of Durandal and the Alliance's aggressions, then so be it. I can take care of myself just fine. And as long as there are people like you in this world, there is always hope for a brighter future."

There was a flicker of a smile on the man's face for a brief second. But quickly reminding himself of his task at hand, the man said, "So if you're not here to destroy the Lohengrin, why are you here in our humble little town, Mr. Iyadomi?"

"I may not support ZAFT or Durandal," Akira said bluntly, "but I will not allow the Alliance's actions here to you people go unpunished. And I plan to punish them dearly."

"What do you have in mind?" the man said, his shaggy eyebrows rising slightly in interest. "Perhaps we could be of assistance?"

Akira finally allowed a small smile to cross his face. "Well, I have been in the market of looking for some high-explosives. If you have any…"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 20, 73 CE  
Bandar-e Anzali, Iran  
7:15pm**

In the quickly darkening hours of the evening, all was as peaceful as a militarily-overrun town could be. The citizens went about their usual lives, trying their utmost to avoid the soldiers who had practically conquered their home. The soldiers, mostly officers stationed at the Lohengrin Gate, merely drove back to their current residence. These few soldiers were among the more 'dangerously privileged' group when compared to what the infantry had to deal with. They were allowed to purchase temporary living quarters in the town, which were much more comfortable than any barracks building. However, what they gained in comfort, they lost in security. Several of these officers had been assaulted and their dwellings ransacked or destroyed during the first ZAFT attack on the Lohengrin Gate. But now that the Alliance had shown how much better equipped it was to fight a war with Coordinators, the officers lived with much less fear of returning to their apartments to find it broken into or vandalized. The citizens now knew better than to do such things.

This sense of renewed security also made the soldiers complacent. That was how Akira had been able to easily enter one apartment after another. But despite his best efforts with the computers, he couldn't find what he was looking for. Either the officers weren't allowed to bring their work home with them, or they kept their work on a ghost drive which they carried with them at all times.

That was why Akira now lounged out in the hallway of one apartment complex, seemingly reading a newspaper. The one he had located seemed to be the residence of a Captain or Major who had a high-security clearance in Lohengrin Gate. As he watched a woman now stop at the doorway and fumble for a set of keys, Akira discreetly folded the newspaper and returned it to the small hallway stand. Moving forward unhurriedly, he watched as the woman entered her apartment.

There came a small snap, followed by hissing air and a cry of distress. The woman seemed to fumble and stumble about in her apartment as a slight cloud of smoke began to creep out from the crack of the doorway. There came a gentle set of thumps and a moment later, all was silent. Waiting a few moments nearby, Akira quickly surveyed his surroundings. No one seemed to have noticed what had just occurred in the officer's apartment and the hallway was empty.

Slipping into her still-unlocked apartment, Akira silently shut and locked the door behind him. The sleeping gas booby-trap he'd left had done its work perfectly. The woman, a Major, was sprawled on the floor only a few short meters away with a few lingering puffs of the gas quickly dissipating. Moving forward, he carefully inspected her to be sure that she wasn't faking it. However, without even a tingle of warning from his danger sense and the steady rise of her chest told him that she was indeed asleep.

Picking the Major up, he gently laid her down on a nearby couch. Then he went digging through her bag. Besides several little items that he set aside for later examination, he found just what he was hoping for: a standard issue military ghost drive. Quickly booting up her computer, he easily hacked her password and plugged in the drive. Hacking into the ghost drive proved to be an interesting challenge, but he managed it. With all the information he found, with a surprising little bonus, he was now properly equipped for his task.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 20, 73 CE  
Harbor, Bandar-e Anzali  
7:38pm**

Ducking behind the dumpster in the alley he was hiding in, Akira pressed the detonator. An instant later, a loud explosion tore up the quiet evening in the town. The harbor warehouse on the east side of the port was suddenly blown to pieces in a huge fireball. Almost immediately afterwards, personnel began racing over to see what had happened and to douse the fires before they could spread to any nearby buildings.

Akira let a small smile of appreciation cross his face. It would seem that his trust in the rebellious locals hadn't been misplaced. Shortly after they begun discussing his purchasing of several IEDs, Ahmed had requested that he and his men aid Akira in whatever he was attempting to do, so long as it drove the Alliance out of their town. While Akira didn't trust them to be of much help in hacking computer databases and networks, they certainly knew the essentials for building and placing IEDs. He'd requested that they plant some in one of the Alliance warehouses in the harbor, his only explanation being that it would be a crucial stepping stone to the destruction of the Lohengrin.

And now, as he watched from his hiding place, his theory had been proven correct. A considerable number of engineers and technicians ran out of the mobile suits' hangar. He easily spotted the pilots being among that crowd and couldn't help but shake his head in slight disbelief. The Alliance either picked real morons to be pilots or those two needed to be harshly retrained. A soldier must never _ever_ abandon his post!

Moving forward silently, he slipped into the hangar and quickly surveyed his surroundings. He couldn't help but blink slightly in surprise at what he saw. Standing on opposing sides, facing one another, were a pair of Dagger L mobile suits, and not the Strike Daggers like he'd previously researched. Shaking himself out of his surprise, he quickly noticed that one of them wore the Jet Striker pack, with its shield and beam rifle hanging from a rack nearby. The other Dagger wore the Dopplehorn Striker pack, also with its shield on a rack. It took only a moment of consideration before Akira boarded the Jet Dagger.

Bring up its OS, Akira instantly began rewriting it. "Upgrade the calibrations by thirteen percent. Reset the CPG, update the control modules to the quasi-cortex molecular ion pump. Rebuild neural linkage network thirty percent, upgrade meta-motor cortex parameters twenty-nine percent, restart forward feed, transfer functions. Correct for eighty-one percent hydraulic deviate. Systems online."

That would have to do for now. With the drastically different systems and units built into the common Alliance mobile suit, Akira would be lucky if he didn't shatter any more than seventeen of the ion pumps or tear the hydraulics to pieces due to his faster reflexes.

Activating the Jet Dagger L, Akira quickly grabbed its shield and beam rifle from their racks. Pulling free of the restraints, he walked several steps forward and jabbed the shield violently into the Dopplehorn Dagger L's head piece, completely crushing it and any chances of it pursuing him. Turning, he walked the Dagger out of the hangar. It wasn't until moments after it took flight that an alarm was sounded throughout the harbor. That meant that Akira had just a few minutes before he was met by any interceptor forces that Lohengrin Gate might send.

For the umpteenth time, Akira couldn't help but wish that he could've used the Neo Freedom for this fight. But due to a crucial mechanical error that Akira had accidentally caused while trying to upgrade it, the Freedom wouldn't be able to properly fight back with any real degree of success. This Jet Dagger's poor supply of weaponry and the battery power alone would drastically limit his fighting potential. He would have to focus on doing as much damage as quickly as possible, not long and drawn out battles, so that he would have enough power to complete his objective.

Akira was just over halfway to his objective when his danger sense began to prickle and an alarm sounded on the console. Bringing up a screen, he spotted a trio of Jet Dagger Ls flying towards him with their rifles raised threateningly.

"_Attention, Jet Dagger!_" a hard voice growled over the radio. "_Land immediately or we will be forced to shoot you down! Do you copy? Land __**immediately!**_"

"No can do," Akira replied simply before shutting down the radio and turning to face his opponents. He quickly launched a trio of Würger missiles at the mobile suits. As they scattered, he launched himself directly for the closest one. The Jet Dagger never had a chance to dodge him as it was still trying to destroy the Würger. Snatching a beam saber, Akira hacked the left arm and head piece clean off, as well as heavily damaging the Jet Striker. The ruined Dagger L didn't explode as it fell to the ground, but the Jet Striker did when it was hit by the missile.

A pair of explosions to the side drew Akira's attention. One of the Jet Daggers had lost its head piece where the missile had struck it and was quickly descending to the earth below. The other Dagger had managed to evade and destroy the missile. However, its back was to Akira, who instantly switched his saber for the rifle. One shot destroyed the Striker pack and sent the Dagger L falling to the earth, mostly undamaged.

Smiling slightly, Akira quickly turned and resumed his earlier flight path. _Too bad the rest of this fight isn't going to be __**that**__ easy_, he thought spitefully.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 20, 73 CE  
Lohengrin Gate  
7:57pm**

Colonel Terry had never been one to lose control of his temper. Indeed, when he had been but a mere child, he never threw a temper tantrum or started fights with bullies he knew he had no chance of winning against. Instead, he had always focused himself into achieving his revenge in some other form. Like plotting ways of getting those who'd wronged him into great amounts of trouble. It was thanks to this coldhearted and utterly focused ruthlessness that he had been able to rapidly climb the ranks in the military to reach his current post. However, for all his training and habits, Terry was very quickly finding himself reaching a level that had never occurred to him before.

When the alert from the harbor had reached them, a report of the Jet Dagger stationed there being stolen and the Dopplehorn Dagger being critically damaged, he had felt very little concern over the issue. It had been a simple matter of tracking the stolen Dagger as it flew away from the harbor and towards a small mountain not even six kilometers from Lohengrin Gate. He knew he should've started feeling concerned at that point, but he didn't. After all, what could a single Jet Dagger do, especially one that was probably being piloted by one of those untrained rebels?

However, the fact that the pilot was clearly flying towards one of the secret power regulation stations did cause Colonel Terry to dispatch a trio of Daggers to intercept it. He figured that would've been more than enough since his men were all highly-trained soldiers. It was to his great surprise that the stolen Jet Dagger had been able to destroy all three Daggers within a few moments of one another. Unprepared, the Jet Dagger arrived and destroyed the regulation station completely unopposed.

With the regulation station's destruction, the entire Lohengrin Gate gave an almost audible whine as a considerable portion of its power supply was suddenly cut off. When his radar officer detected the Jet Dagger now flying towards the second regulation station, Terry had quickly ordered seven of their Daggers to intercept and destroy the enemy at all cost. This battle lasted a bit longer, but the result was the same. The stolen Jet Dagger utterly crushed its opponents and continued on to the regulation station.

It was at this point that Colonel Terry finally realized the truth. The pilot of that Jet Dagger was no ordinary person. He had just destroyed a third of their defense force and reduced the Gate's power reserves by forty-three percent! Even if the remainder of his mobile suits were able to destroy the Jet Dagger now, the damage done would severely cripple their operations until repairs were made. With fifty-three percent of its power available, it would drastically cut down the Lohengrin's recharge cycle and lower its combat effectiveness critically!

"Colonel!" the radar officer cried suddenly. "Enemy mobile suit is heading towards the regulation station of Section 3, Area 11!"

If the pilot was able to destroy that station as well, the Lohengrin Gate would be reduced by an additional twenty-seven percent of reserve power! And even with the Gate's emergency generators running at full power, there wouldn't even be enough to fire the Lohengrin!

Giving into his temper for the first time in his life, Terry turned and snapped out, "Deploy the Gells-Ghe and the Windam team! _I want that mobile suit __**destroyedon the double!**_"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**2 kilometers west of Lohengrin Gate  
8:01pm**

Seeing the final station up ahead of him, Akira almost let out a sigh of relief. Akira's mobile suit was almost out of power and had gained some rather serious damage due to the large battle he'd been involved in. But, however strangely it may have seemed, none of it was caused by the enemies he'd fought against.

All fifteen ion pumps in the right arm had ruptured, causing the hydraulics to have no recoil cushion. The friction quickly ground the gears smooth, resulting in the entire appendage hanging lifelessly to the side. There were also no more than four functional pumps in each of the remaining limbs. The primary maneuvering thrusters had been unable to keep up with Kira's almost inhuman reflexes. Due to the immense G-forces put upon them, as well as with an inferior cooling system, most had blown themselves out and were leaving a noticeable trailing of smoke behind him. The controls of the cockpit themselves were almost shot, a side-effect of the loss of the ion pumps since the worn gears and braces could no longer adequately grip themselves.

And while the Jet Striker pack itself was a bit twisted and bent out of shape because of the high-speed maneuvers and even higher degrees of stress he'd put it through, the firing controls to the seven remaining missiles he had still worked properly. Had they not, he would've been forced to self-destruct the Dagger at the station itself. But as it was, that wouldn't be necessary.

With a small sigh of relief, he let fly his final barrage of missiles. They flew fast and true, impacting heavily against the small surface feature that held the power conduits. The numerous explosions ripped the conduits apart and splattered the surrounding area with a waterfall of sparks and burning gases.

"Mission complete," he muttered to himself.

An alarm caught his attention as an image appeared on the screen. He counted no less than ten Jet Windams and the Lohengrin Gate's sole mobile armor defense, the Gells-Ghe. The commander of the Gate must've been desperate, furious, or to have sent _that_ after him! But they were still a fair distance away; he should be able to escape in time.

Turning the staggering Dagger away from the destruction that it had just wrought, he boosted the thrusters to the highest levels he could safely do with the mobile suit in its current condition. As he flew away, he was constantly looking around for something to aid in his escape. There must be a cave or at least a small stream nearby he could use to hide in. _There!_

Dropping altitude quickly, Akira didn't bother trying to land daintily. The ruined Dagger L landed roughly on its feet. But because of the angle of which it landed on, as well as the damage inside the legs, the suit collapsed on its knees with its face digging a deep trough in the dirt as it slid to a halt. Inside the cockpit, Akira was violently jostled around, even with the safety belts he was wearing.

As the suit came to a halt, he hit the emergency eject button and discarded the safety harness. Dropping awkwardly to the ground, he staggered to his feet and ran towards the stream that was no less than thirty meters away. Ignoring the fact that his shoes would be soggy for hours afterwards, Akira dove under its surface as the Jet Dagger L self-destructed behind him.

Even without his danger sense to warn him, he could tell that the Windam pilots and Gells-Ghe were searching for him. But since the sun had long since set, their visibility was rather limited in the mountainous canyons of the region. And even if they were using infrared, the cool water he was in was perfect to disguise and lower his body heat. Thus he swam unhampered with the current to speed his progress for the next half hour, only coming to the surface for air before submerging again.

And he continued to swim in the stream until he finally felt his danger sense all but disappear.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 21, 73 CE  
33 miles south of Lohengrin Gate  
7:10am**

Coniel drove the buggy along the top of the cliff with all the ease of an experienced adult driver. Flying a short distance over her small head was the massive ZAFT warship of _Minerva_, with its cargo hatch descending towards the ground, waiting for her drive up on it. It was with a great deal of relief that she finally mounted the hatch and was hoisted into the innards of the monstrous warship.

Only after the hatch had sealed itself did Coniel remover her goggles and the scarf protecting her face from the sand and grit of the desert climate. Quickly gathering her small bag from the back of the buggy and climbing out of the small vehicle, she dusted herself off and turned towards her welcoming committee. There was a man in the standard ZAFT black uniform of an officer and a very cute blue-haired young man in a purple flight suit standing next to him.

"Hello there," the young man greeted with a kind smile on his face. "I'm Athrun Zala and this is Deputy Captain Trine. And who are you?"

"I'm Coniel," she said simply. "Thank you for letting me come and help out."

Smiling that small smile of his, Commander Zala nodded as he motioned her towards the doorway. "Not at all. Actually I'd like to thank you on the behalf of the entire crew for coming to help us. This isn't going to be an easy operation."

They walked in relative silence through the large ship. Coniel wasn't certain how far they'd walked, but she had very easily lost her way through the various corridors that they'd taken. Even though Zala and Trine walked with a confidence of clearly knowing the interior well enough to travel it blindfolded, Coniel couldn't help but to slightly marvel at its sheer sophistication and the feeling of absolute power. Was this what all warships felt like when you walked through them?

It wasn't until they reached the debriefing room that Coniel began to lose her faith in the ZAFT forces. While Coniel would freely and openly admit to not knowing the first thing about how ZAFT or any military force operated, how could they have possibly allowed such a rude and undisciplined individual as that red-eyed loudmouth in the red flight suit to enlist was beyond her understanding. His loud boasts and childish attitude certainly didn't do much to soothe Coniel's fears, especially when she learned that _he_ was going to be the one who flew through the cave! In fact, she was quickly coming to believe that he was going to fatally screw up the mission. The fact that Commander Zala, who was undoubtedly very skilled since he _was_ the Commander, was resolute in his decision to have this…pilot fly the mission did not renew even a candle's flicker of her former faith of ZAFT in the boy.

It was only after she'd informed the gathered pilots about the semi-secret cave tunnel that led to the Lohengrin cannon that she felt it was time to add in some extra facts that she'd only learned a few short hours ago.

"There's something else I think you should all be aware of," she said, regaining all the pilots' attentions. "Early last night, something happened at the Gate. I don't know the full details, but one of my friends told me that some lunatic attacked the Gate by himself. He said something about that lunatic damaging the Lohengrin's power source so badly that it might not have enough juice to even fire until it's repaired. The entire base has been in an uproar ever since."

Now _that_ got their attention.

"Say what?!" the loudmouth demanded. "Then what's the point of us even going in there?!"

"It's because we don't want them to repair whatever damage has been done," Athrun answered, quickly overcoming his own surprise and thinking rationally once again. "And as long as the positron cannon is still there, the Alliance will continue to use this route. Because we don't know the extent of the damage done, we will continue with this strategy. We won't let them continue to exploit this area."

Athrun's little speech not only silenced any lingering questions and doubts about Coniel's claims, but it also solidified the numerous pilots' resolve to complete the original mission. Picking up where he'd originally left off, the young Commander continued with their basic plan of attack. Despite the slight reassurance she felt from Athrun's words, Coniel had quickly retreated to the side of the room where she stared intently at the boy. She couldn't help but hope that if she glared at him hard enough, he might pull a miracle out of the large sack of hot air he seemed to be made of. When the meeting was over and the pilots were dismissed to prep their respective machines, Coniel was once again guided back through the large warship towards where she'd left her buggy.

"I understand that you're worried about your people," Athrun said, hoping to at least raise her hopes slightly. "You don't need to worry. I promise you that we'll succeed, and that Shinn will be able to pull this off successfully."

Glancing up at the young Commander, Coniel's frown didn't waver in the least. Turning her attention to the floor, she muttered out quiet, "I knew I should've gone looking for Akira."

If Athrun hadn't been a Coordinator, he most certainly wouldn't have been able to hear that whispered statement. As it was, he came to an instant halt as he stared down at the girl intently. "Akira…Akira Iyadomi? How do you know about him? …You mean he's here with the Neo Freedom?!"

She looked up at the young man with a slightly surprised expression. Honestly, how could Coordinators' hearing be that good?! Coniel nodded slowly as she answered, "Th-The Alliance officers in my town have been talking about them ever since Junius 7. And I—uh—I don't know about the Freedom, but there was _definitely_ an Akira Iyadomi in my hometown for the past few days."

"Did you talk to him?!" Athrun asked with a very strange tone in his voice. It was somewhere between impatient demanding and fearful begging. "What did he say?! What's he trying to accomplish by attacking the Earth Alliance?! Has he seen Lacus yet?!"

Coniel couldn't help but blink up at the young man as he suddenly turned demanding and yearning in comparison to the previously cool and calm Commander he had been. "Uh…I only spoke to him for a little bit two days ago. He had been saying some pretty ridiculous things, so I didn't take him seriously because I didn't know who he was." Seeing the questions that Athrun was about to voice, she cut him off prematurely. "He said something about ZAFT and Chairman Durandal going to conquer the world after he defeats the Alliance. And something else about him using a fake Lacus Clyne."

Seeing the confused and slightly surprised expression on Athrun's face, Coniel just shrugged as she continued, "Like I said, utterly ridiculous! However, I think I'd definitely trust a _crazy_ Neo Freedom's pilot over that loudmouth any day of the week!"

"Kira isn't crazy," Athrun muttered quietly as he began walking back towards his earlier destination. "But he's far more perceptive of things that many others would've missed, misunderstood, or not even considered…I wonder what he's up to here. Is he going to try to destroy the Lohengrin himself or does he have something else planned?"

"Kira?" Coniel asked, frowning up at the veteran pilot. "Who's Kira?" Not receiving an answer from Athrun, Coniel let out a small derisive snort. Shaking her head to refocus her mind, Coniel simply said, "Whatever. I just hope the idiot doesn't do anything to hurt my town, or there's going to be hell to pay!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**Bandar-e Anzali, Iran  
8:05am**

Akira was perhaps the calmest person in the entire town at the moment. He wasn't entirely sure why he was still here now that he'd completed his objective. He most certainly didn't want to attract too much attention from ZAFT, at least not when he was outside a mobile suit. But he found himself…compelled to stay and watch as the events unfolded around him. He was armed with a pair of pistols he'd purchased from the local rebels last night, and he had a strange feeling that he was going put them to use in the very near-future.

But the thing that was really setting him on edge was something so intangible and impossible that he couldn't help but believe it. His awareness was telling him that there was…_another_ nearby. And this one, unlike little Kawayui, was very, _very_ focused and determined to accomplish its tasks. Akira could only assume that it was one of the _Minerva_'s pilots, which was all the more reason that he didn't take the Neo Freedom and flee just yet.

The ZAFT attack on the Lohengrin Gate had just ended. As expected, it had been an overwhelming victory for ZAFT since the Alliance defenders couldn't even fire their primary weapon, and had their complement of mobile suits significantly reduced. Though they had most certainly tried everything to reroute all available power to the cannon, it still hadn't been enough. And despite the Dagger and Windam teams' truly valiant efforts, the pilot of the Impulse had easily been able to overpower them and destroy the Lohengrin. Since all available power was being routed into the Lohengrin, when it was destroyed it caused a breath-taking chain reaction that completely leveled the entire underground base, killing all inside.

Seeing the destruction of their hated oppressors' base, the citizens of the town had instantly rebelled. Many of the off-duty soldiers, and just as many on-duty ones, had quickly found themselves mobbed and utterly overpowered. Many of those soldiers were subjected to truly brutal beatings that made the 'punishment' that they had administered to the citizens in the prior attack seem like a mild slap on the cheek.

As the Savior and Impulse Gundams flew over and landed in the center of the town, the beatings had mostly ceased. However, the still surviving soldiers were being gathered into a group near where the Gundam duo had landed. Quickly seeing how they were angling the beaten and bound prisoners, Akira's stomach twisted into a tight knot as his anger flared. How could they do that?! The soldiers had all but surrendered already!

Turning to a nearby large flatbed truck, he jerked the door open and pulled out the protesting driver without a word. Gunning the engine, he tore towards the group that was preparing to execute their prisoners in the traditional military style. The roar of the engine and the loud honking of the horn was more than enough to create a sizeable gap for him to enter. However, as he pulled the truck into a quick halt and disembarked, many of the townsfolk began to protest loudly.

"_SHUT UP!!!_" he yelled as he ran in front of the group of prisoners and spread his arms. "That's _enough!_ Hasn't there been _enough_ killing today already?! And they've already surrendered!"

"They were the ones who killed my father and brother!" One of the crowd members yelled angrily.

"So by killing them, you'll get your lost ones back?!" Akira demanded, glaring at the crowd.

His danger sense was starting to become almost painful from how fiercely it was beginning to pound in his mind. He could easily tell that these people were filled with rage and quite ready to unleash that wrath upon the ones they deemed guilty.

"And what about them?" Akira asked loudly, gesturing slightly towards the still-cowering soldiers behind him. "Do you think that they don't have family and friends? What will happen when they—"

A sudden drastic spike in his danger sense warned Akira a split second ahead of time. Dropping into slight crouch, a piece of heavy pipe that had been aimed for the back of his head flew over him harmlessly. Before anyone could react to his seemingly-impossible dodge, his hands flew to the back of his waist where his pistols were hidden. He had them yanked out and pointed them to the sides while still crouched over.

There was a moment of silence that hung thick over the crowd as they registered what had just happened and what could've happened.

"I understand why you're angry," Akira said coldly, his voice carrying over the crowd. "But by giving into that anger, you become nothing more than destroyers, murderers, the very same beasts as those that you've hated for so long."

Standing up with his pistols still up and ready, he said, "That is why you people are going to be _better_ than them. You'll let them live, knowing full well that you'd _intended_ to kill them yet _didn't_. Why? Because forgiveness is one of the first steps toward peace and redemption. You people _do_ want _peace_, right?"

Though he received no verbal answer, he did receive countless glares. Seeing their chance to escape with their lives, the Alliance soldiers crawled into the truck that Akira had hijacked. As the truck was beginning to pull away, Akira jumped upon the tailgate, keeping his pistols on the crowd. And he stayed in that position for several blocks after the driver had gunned the engine and sent the vehicle flying down the road. As his danger sense began to wane, Akira returned his pistols to their holsters.

Turning around, he saw that many of the Alliance soldiers were staring at him, strange expressions covering their faces. "What?"

"Why did you save us?" one of the men asked in a thick voice. "You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"

"I may be a Coordinator," Akira confirmed, nodding slightly. "But I fight for _peace_, not for nations."

Before they could continue to question him, he turned and lightly jumped off the side of the truck, skidding and sliding until he came to a stop. As the truckload of fleeing Alliance officers continued to race down the road, he raised his arm in farewell towards them. To his slight surprise, several of them managed to give small salutes of respect before the truck crested a hill and disappeared from sight.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**ZGMF-X23S Savior  
8:14am**

The operation had been a shocking success, especially with how reasonably easy it had been. The Dagger and Windam mobile suits had been quite easy to mop up, with only that weird mobile armor being any real challenge to the ZAFT pilots. When they landed in the town behind the Gate, a crowd had gathered around the Gundams' feet. Though Shinn had quickly disembarked to relish in all the attention and hero-worship, Athrun had remained in his Savior to survey the town itself. He had easily spotted some partially smoldering wreckage over by the harbor, as well as a damaged Dopplehorn Dagger L lying on its side partially outside its hangar. That was probably the work of the locals, who had gathered up a group of bloodied Alliance soldiers and were clearly intending to execute them coldheartedly.

This was where Athrun's interest had been drastically piqued. He had watched the entire confrontation between the mob and a single brave young man who'd thrown himself between the two groups, shielding the Alliance officers with his own body. The blond was clearly trying to talk the locals out of executing the soldiers, and not doing too well. But then one of the locals had thrown something at the person, who had somehow dodged it despite clearly not having seen it. Athrun had quickly realized that this person had to be a Coordinator, due entirely on how fast he moved when he'd dodged and drew his pistols threateningly at the mob.

Seeing this action, Athrun had quickly disembarked from the Savior to lend a helping hand. There were numerous instances in history where a rabid mob had brutally killed those who opposed their ideals, the fact that this person was clearly doing just that said lot about his personality and courage, as well as his stupidity.

However, by the time that Athrun had reached the area, the soldiers and blond had long since disappeared. All Athrun could see was an old flatbed truck filled with white uniformed people racing out of sight at high speeds.

"Who does that creep think he is?!" one of the mob demanded to another nearby. "The Alliance is nothing but monsters! They deserve death!"

"That was Akira Iyadomi," a heavily breaded man snapped from the side. As Athrun glanced to the powerfully-built man, he quickly realized that he must've been someone of importance to the town since a considerable majority of the crowd suddenly silenced their outraged arguments. "And he's only doing what he thinks is best for the world. And I must say that I applaud him for his courageous actions last night and today…When you people have had time to calm down and think rationally, I believe you will thank him as well."

"Nyugodt, are you saying you're on his side?!" someone in the crowd demanded loudly.

Looking sharply over at the speaker, Nyugodt's stare could've sent shivers down even the most resolute of individuals. "I'm saying that I'm grateful for his help, no matter what form it came in, since it has helped to finally free us."

Nyugodt turned and walked through the crowd as his statement was finished, leaving a bewildered mob in his wake. Athrun watched the big man as he made his way through the crowd towards him.

"Are you the Commander of this operation?" the man asked gruffly, his hand reaching into a hidden inner pocket of his vest.

"Yes, to an extent," Athrun answered, carefully watching the man.

Giving a small nod, Nyugodt extracted an object from his vest and held it out to Athrun. It was datachip hanging from a thin strand of twine. Based on its shape and size, it was probably one meant for video and surveillance. "Consider this a 'thank you' from the people of Bandar-e Anzali. I hope you'll make good use of what's on this chip."

"What is it?" he asked, examining the chip before draping it over his neck and stuffing it under his flight suit.

"A peek into the ideals of a certain individual," the man said before he vanished into the crowd.

A certain person's ideals? Did that mean what he thought it meant? Shaking his head, Athrun made his way over to where Shinn was still celebrating with the townsfolk. They had to return to the _Minerva_ so that they could continue on with their original orders.

* * *

**(Author's Note)** I hope this chapter lived up to your many expectations. However, I'm quite sure that many of you were surprised with what happened. Akira neither destroyed the Lohengrin, nor did he directly aid ZAFT, and then he turns around sand saves a handful of Alliance officers from being executed. What a surprise, eh?

I have to bow down nice and low to my friend **animefan29**. Not only did he once again beta-review this story, but he pointed out some really big mistakes that I was making when I started writing this chapter and offered some very good alternatives. Let's just say that in the original draft, Akira completely destroyed the port. Which, as **animefan29** 'gently' reminded me of, would've killed the town's economy rather than weaken the Alliance stranglehold on them. Not my best idea.

Also, for those of you crossover fans, I've got a small advertisement for you. It's called Evangelion Seed, a Eva/Gundam SEED x-over. A story that I had challenged **animefan29** to write back in September 2008. And now he's finally been able to post the first real chapter of it. Believe me when I say that it is most _definitely_ worth reading! Between the two of us, the story stays remarkably true to both genre, character personalities, and the situations they find themselves in. I _highly_ recommend it, along with his various other crossovers!

Oh yes, several of you have made a comment about how this story is similar to Gundam 00 and how Akira is like Jason Bourne. I have a confession: I have seen neither of which. The fact that my story seems to come across so close to them is nother ing short of a coincidence, I swear! But that's what makes your remarks about being such so amusing! ^_^

IED—**I**mprovised **E**xplosive **D**evice, like the infamous Pepsi-bomb; military slang  
Nyugodt—calm (Hungarian, I believe)


	12. The Empty Gun He Left

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 12: The Empty Gun He Left_

**November 21, 73 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**  
10:06pm**

If there was one thing that Athrun had quickly grown to yearn dearly for, it was perhaps not necessarily a little peace and quiet but for people to stop seeking him out for something or other. And one of the people who dominated a considerable portion of his time here on the _Minerva_ was Lunamaria Hawke. The girl had a good heart that was in the right place, but she could probably talk the ears off a dead man if given a chance.

That being said, she had somehow weaseled her way into watching the data chip that Athrun had received once she learned about it. She had even 'generously' taken the liberty of inviting Shinn and Rey along. Athrun knew that he could've used his authority as a FAITH member to dismiss them, but then he knew that he'd be subjected to endless questions for days afterwards from Lunamaria and possibly Shinn until he finally yielded them the information. Thus he figured that whatever secrets were on the data chip just weren't worth the headaches he was guaranteed to get by restricting them.

So they were gathered in Athrun's room around his laptop as he plugged in the data chip. After carefully searching it with some standard ZAFT virus scanners, which all turned up negative, Athrun finally opened the files that appeared on screen.

A video screen appeared on the monitor and started playing almost instantly. On the screen, they could see that the camera had been positioned on the ceiling of some kind of old fashioned interrogation chamber. But what was quickly made obvious was that the room was likely some kind of underground secret chamber because of the structure of the rooms and the obvious roughness of the walls. Currently there was only one person in the room, sitting in one of the two chairs of the room, closest to the camera and effectively hiding his face and features.

"Well, this is very interesting," Shinn remarked, his voice dripping with snide sarcasm. How did he let himself get talked into this again?

"Be quiet, Shinn!" Lunamaria snapped in a slightly less than friendly tone. "It's starting!"

Indeed it clearly was. The door on the opposite side of the room opened and seven people entered. The one that quickly drew each of the ZAFT pilots' attentions was the blond young man who appeared to be the prisoner. He was handcuffed and blindfolded. But to Athrun's watchful eye, despite the somewhat bleak situation he was in, it didn't seem as though he was overly concerned. There was nothing that gave away any fear or uncertainty, just mild annoyance that was visible in the small frown that was etched upon his face.

"Who the hell is that?" Shinn demanded, clearly very bored. "And why should I care?"

"Will you shut up already?!" Luna snapped, sounding extremely annoyed, a sentiment that everyone else silently agreed with.

"_So you're the young man I've been hearing so much about…Akira Iyadomi_," the interrogator said.

That one name was enough to silence Shinn's retort and draw all four pilots' attentions in an instant. Now that the blindfold had been removed and Athrun knew the person's identity, he focused his entire mind to memorizing **'**Akira's facial features. Unable to prevent himself, he had begun comparing Akira's features to what he remembered of Kira's; the results were shocking and pleasing at the same time. If he took Kira's face from two years ago, overlaid it with this image, the resulting face would've been a near-perfect match as long as he factored in the time and growth difference. And despite the blond hair, Athrun was able to spot the small line of brown roots from where his hair had grown out. Athrun couldn't help but pat himself on the back for never losing faith that the pilot of the Neo Freedom was indeed his long-lost best friend. Shinn and Rey studied the young man's face with only professional interest, merely labeling the face in front of them with the name of the elusive Neo Freedom's pilot.

"He's cute," Lunamaria said causally, earning a trio of stares from her companions. "What?"

"_Where is your Gundam, boy?_" The man's demanding voice said suddenly, returning their attentions to the monitor.

"_A Gundam?_" Akira asked with a raised eyebrow. "_What makes you think I even have one of those?_" To this, all the gathered ZAFT pilots let out quiet snorts, clearly not believing the façade. Apparently none of the men on the video did either.

"Kira never was very good at bluffing," Athrun muttered too quietly for the others to hear as the duo on the screen got into a small argument. It was nice to know that at least _some_ things didn't change about his friend. It was at this time that the conversation between them became extremely more interesting, as well as enlightening as to why that man had given this to Athrun in the first place.

The locals wanted to enlist Kira's aid to destroy the Lohengrin either before ZAFT and the _Minerva_ even arrived, or to act as reinforcements should the battle go awry. It was actually a very good plan, especially if the Neo Freedom had joined the battle. The number of ZAFT causalities would've decreased significantly; even Shinn had to reluctantly agree with the locals on that point (but only to himself, since his pride forbade voicing those thoughts).

However, Akira was firmly against the idea of even offering aid to ZAFT when they attacked. His questions to the guards who spoke out made it clear that he held no more loyalty to the PLANTs than the Alliance. In fact Akira seemed convinced of the idea of ZAFT and Chairman Durandal merely using the war as a discreet means of conquering the world, though he didn't clarify the reasons for this assumption.

While Shinn and Lunamaria broke out into loud exclamations of anger and disbelief against Akira's accusations, even Rey was wearing a prominent frown at what Akira said, Athrun couldn't help but pause in consideration. Several of Akira's questions sounded remarkably familiar for some reason. Why did he want to believe that Durandal was a good man? Was it because he wanted someone to tell him what to do?

But there was something else that caused Athrun to seriously consider what he'd heard. How did Kira know without a doubt that the Meer Campbell wasn't the real Lacus Clyne? Did that mean that he'd already found Lacus and the others? Why hadn't he'd stayed with them then? Heaven knows that _everyone_ would've been extremely happy and relieved to see him back!

"Just what the hell is this guy's problem?!" Shinn's loud voice demanded, snapping Athrun from his thoughts. The small video was still playing, but it seemed that Kira and the rebel were merely bargaining for some explosives for some reason. "What right does he have to accuse us of trying to conquer Earth when it was Earth Alliance who attacked us?! And why should the Chairman have to use a fake Lacus Clyne?! She's helping the Chairman because she knows that he's right!"

Athrun was honestly torn over telling Shinn the truth about Meer or just letting Durandal's deception with her continue. Knowing how open and friendly Shinn was to certain crewmembers of the _Minerva_, it wasn't unbelievable to guess that he'd share the information, which would inevitably spread throughout the entire ZAFT military the next time they arrived at a friendly port or base.

"It's not that hard to understand his point of view, Shinn," Rey said with his ever-calm voice. His statement quickly silenced the ranting teenager as they turned to the blond for an explanation. "Though you're right about who started this war, Chairman Durandal _did_ approve of the creation of many new weapons before the robbery at Armory One. There are many people who believe that those who build weapons of war during peace often seek to one day use them for the purpose they'd been built for. To that extent, even though we're only fighting a 'self-defense' war, that is all the motivation that some people like Akira Iyadomi need to take up arms against us."

This answer seemed to be exactly what Shinn was looking for as he turned to glare accusingly at the monitor and Akira, as though the false-blond had directly insulted him.

"That may be true for a lot of people, Rey," Athrun said, glancing at the young man shrewdly. "But you're forgetting that Kira still hasn't made any threatening actions towards ZAFT and the PLANTs themselves. All he's done to this point is weaken the Alliance's power in Eurasia and help free several cities from EA occupation."

"Kira?" Luna asked, eying her combat commander questioningly. "As in your friend, Kira?"

"He's dyed his hair and is wearing contacts, but that's _definitely_ Kira Yamato," Athrun clarified, a small smile pulling at his face.

"But why is helping us if he thinks ZAFT is also a bad guy?" Lunamaria asked, confusion all over her face.

"Maybe he thinks that for the moment we're in the right," Athrun ventured, staring at his lost friend. "But once he decides that we're becoming the threat to the people, he'll change targets."

"And when he does, I'm going to kill him," Shinn growled with murderous intent.

"Shinn!" Athrun snapped. "Just because he _might_ start shooting at us _doesn't_ make him an enemy!"

"Just because he's _your_ friend _doesn't_ make him _mine!_" Shinn snapped back, matching Athrun's glare perfectly.

"How can he not be an enemy if he's trying to kill us?" Luna asked, both confused and hoping to break the rapidly escalating tension.

"Kira never _ever_ tries to kill," Athrun replied immediately. Then, after a short consideration, he added, "At least he never used to…and not without a good reason. And he hates fighting, so he does his best to stop it as quickly as possible."

Standing up and walking towards the door, Shinn only stopped to say, "Sounds like your friend is a real idiot then." He had left before Athrun could properly form a reprimand.

'_And here I thought he'd finally started to grow up_,' Athrun couldn't help but think darkly. Why did Shinn always seem so determined to only think in absolutes like that?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 22, 73 CE  
Aprillis City, PLANTs  
12:10pm**

There were very few things that Chairman Durandal could be caught off guard with anymore these days. His cunning plan of slowly destroying the Alliance's military and gaining the support of the people of the PLANTs and Earth alike seemed to be working like a charm. There were very few people who seemed to think that he had something else hidden up his sleeve for when the time was right.

Chief among those people who actually concerned him were those aboard the _Archangel_, which had completely disappeared after its brief return off the coast of Orb. With how righteous the crew of the _Archangel_ had been in the previous war, Gilbert had little doubt that they were biding their time until they felt that they had to reappear. Hopefully by the time that they did so, it would either be to help Durandal's cause or at such a time that his elite soldiers had grown strong enough to destroy the legendary warship. But as dangerous as that one ship could be to his plans, he was finding out that he had utterly underestimated the pilot of the Neo Freedom.

When he had returned to the PLANTs after the Junius 7 incident, which had initiated his plans at long last, he had attempted to cover-up the Neo Freedom's involvement and limit the knowledge to those who had been present. That by itself was an extremely difficult task, especially when that mysterious Earth Alliance task force had no doubt taken pictures of the Gundam along with the others they'd had. Durandal had first done this as a ploy to gain the pilot's trust should the submarines he dispatched to the crash site recover either the pilot or the Gundam. The pilot clearly didn't want his true identity known, so by trying to limit the spread of rumors, he could gain at least a measure of gratitude from the person. However, neither the suit nor pilot was ever found. The mystery of the pilot and his machine's survival and locations had plagued Durandal for several weeks.

Then his spies in the upper echelons of the Alliance heard rumors about some new top-secret Gundam that they were planning to mass produce once some 'technical complications' had been overcome. Then only a few short days afterwards, the Neo Freedom appeared, seemingly reincarnated from the flames. Some of Durandal's men in Orb had managed to acquire a small surveillance video of the Neo Freedom's escape from Morgenroete. Whoever the pilot of the machine was, he or she sure knew how to put on a good show. But what really concerned Durandal was that the same time that the Freedom had returned, his Lacus assassination team had all perished. The chances were too great for Durandal to ignore the obvious: somehow the Neo Freedom had managed to intervene, though if Miss Clyne had survived was still unknown.

If his guess was right, the pilot of the Freedom had come into contact with at least some of the _Archangel_'s crew. That would explain for the short time difference between the loss of his assassin team and the revolution of Bhutan at the hands of the Neo Freedom. At the time, Gilbert hadn't been able to understand why the Neo Freedom and its pilot hadn't gone with the _Archangel_ when it reappeared or if it was somehow working with the _Archangel_ to settle disputes throughout Eurasia.

Since Gilbert liked to be able to accurately predict his opponents' moves five steps before they did, he had always made it a habit to keep up-to-date with the latest turmoil on Earth. At the moment, many of the oppressed countries of the Earth saw ZAFT as the good guys because they only fought defensively, continually forcing the Alliance into the role of the aggressors. In Gilbert's original scheme, this defensive strategy would've caused the people of Earth to start seeing the Atlantic Federation as nothing more than beasts and thugs. Then ZAFT would come swooping in and save them from the tyranny of the Blue Cosmos-minded Alliance. And this would lead to them becoming _much_ less resistant to his ultimate plan for what he wanted to accomplish.

However, this plan did not factor in the one wild card that he should've been able to predict. And the Neo Freedom was a truly _dangerous_ wild card at that! Already he could see a slight difference in the way that the people were handling the situation. Due to the Neo Freedom's many attacks on Alliance military outposts and factories, as well as intervening in several battles that ZAFT would and could not between poorly-equipped rebels and the ruthless Alliance soldiers, the people of Eurasia were beginning to see the Gundam as a beacon of freedom and revolution. Wherever the Gundam had appeared, the tides of battle turned and usually many peoples' lives were saved, on both sides of the conflict.

Surprisingly enough, the Earth Alliance wasn't taking the Neo Freedom seriously enough as a threat to their overall operations. Gilbert had a strong hunch that their leadership was much more focused on the completion of those prototype Neo Freedom Gundams that they were likely building, if he had to guess. It would take a truly direct and savage attack by the Neo Freedom to warrant any significant degree of attention by the Alliance at this point.

The Neo Freedom was taking the role of liberator and protector much earlier in the war than ZAFT could, especially if they continued playing by the rules that they'd already set into place for themselves. And as much as he wanted to do otherwise, Gilbert knew that he couldn't change his plans. If he did, then he would utterly ruin the image that he was trying to build for the public as a man who sticks to his words and never breaks a promise. So he would continue to do stay the course until the Freedom or some other factor made a critical mistake and allowed him to change his plans adequately. But he was certain that it would happen, sooner or later. He just had to be patient. Hopefully the little concert trip he was planning to make in the next few days would help to raise public opinion of Durandal and ZAFT.

However, until that time came, there were still several projects that he could get started that would greatly aid his plans in the future. In his hands, Gilbert held a copy of the coded message that his ZAFT intelligence had detected from the _Minerva_ only a few short days ago.

It was a message from Rey with some very intriguing information about that marvelous new Gundam that Orb had built. Though the information that Rey had overheard was spotty and far from complete, the concrete facts of it were truly fascinating. A Voiture Lumiere light propulsion system that emitted Mirage Colloid particles as a side-effect when activated and could be used to create afterimages during high-speed movements? Gilbert couldn't help but feel his respect for the engineers of Orb go up several notches. Truly, only a real genius could've built such a unique system into a mobile suit and have it work to such a successful degree!

Setting aside the short message, he quickly typed up a message to the Experimental Weaponry Research Division. There was no way he could allow this new branch of mobile suit technology go uncontested by the military forces of Earth. He had little doubt that one day Orb's special Gundam was going to enter into battle against his forces. And given Lieutenant Koenig's blatant displays of disobedience, there was no way even Gilbert could accurately predict the outcome of such a battle with ZAFT's current mobile suits available. He'd be pinning all his hopes on one new suit…

On second thought, why not have _two_ new Gundams be built to counter Orb's Gundam and the Neo Freedom?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 23, 73 CE  
Black Sea coast, Diocuia, Turkey  
12:10pm**

The paradise city of Diocuia hadn't always been known by that name. In the years prior to the Cosmic Era, the city had been named Samsun. But due to the fact that it was a lively port on the coast of the Black Sea, the city had been subjected to a series of brutal wars and acts of terrorism in the last years of the Anno Domini Gregorian calendar. When the city of Diocuia had been constructed, it was over the ruins of the old Samsun city.

With its recent revolution from Earth Alliance domination, Diocuia was in a state of perpetual festivities and late-night partying. Even the recent unseasonably warm weather for the region did much to influence the celebratory mood the residents were in. And the festive mood wasn't only restricted to the residents, but also to the ZAFT forces that had quickly converted the existing Alliance base into one of their own. However, the parties and celebrations weren't the reason that he'd decided to come here.

After finally repairing his Gundam, Akira had flown straight to Diocuia. There was something happening here in the next few days that he just couldn't allow to pass him by. Especially not if he wanted to make a _real_ effect on the state of the war! But if he wanted to make his crazy scheme work, he needed to do some serious and extremely precise preparations.

The ZAFT Chairman of the Supreme Council and his Lacus Clyne double were going to be making a series of a visits and concerts throughout the region. Akira couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't drawing enough attention from either of the forces to be taken seriously. He needed to do something to change that. And his current plan was as radical as it was nearly improbable, but the ramifications would most certainly have a devastating effect on the world and the PLANTs. But with the state that the PLANTs were in now, perhaps his plan would help to have them see that they were being used. He wasn't sure why he was coming to believe this so strongly, only that he did.

That was why he now was walking casually through the city, taking in the sights and judging distances between multiple different locations. Many of the buildings did not reach past ten stories, this would provide for easy surveillance of the sky and horizon. The buildings generally were both wide and still quite tall, that would give a talented mobile suit pilot with a beam rifle more than enough cover and concealment to take sniper shots.

And though the harbor was only lightly patrolled, the underwater route was not a choice available. Water was perhaps the biggest flaw in the Mirage Colloid design because it could easily short out the circuits that provided the energy needed to maintain the colloid. Besides, Akira still hadn't gotten around to waterproofing the Neo Freedom.

Spotting a nearby park, he steered his path of travel in that direction and quickly took a seat under a small tree. Near him a group of children were playing a game of soccer, and apparently having quite a bit of competitive fun from the amount of good natured yelling they were doing as the ball bounced about the field.

Withdrawing his trusty laptop from his bag, Akira quickly set up a defensive virus before probing at the new ZAFT network. He had some hopes for being able of penetrating this network a bit easier than the others because it was still being established. If he wanted to do this crazy plan of his, he needed to know the exact schedule for when the Chairman would arrive, estimations how the reaction times of defense forces, predicting the various peoples' next moves, and then set up his timing to be absolutely perfect to accomplish his mission.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 25, 73 CE  
4:50pm**

Athrun had never been one for superstitions or coincidences. And the first thought that went through his mind when he saw the concert that was taking place near the harbor's perimeter was that something was happening. He didn't like to think that the world revolved around him or anything conceited like that, but honestly what were the chances of Chairman Durandal and Meer being at Diocuia the same time that the _Minerva_ arrived in port? Simply put, they were too great for this to have been a chance encounter. Durandal must've wanted to talk to him or someone else aboard the _Minerva_ to have timed his arrival here so perfectly.

With that thought in mind, Athrun felt little inclination to attend Meer's concert. Perhaps he was being a little narrow-minded, but it felt kinda like Meer was corrupting the purity that Lacus had spent so much time imbuing her songs with. And for once, he was actually grateful to have Lunamaria and her little sister subtly and not-so-subtly trying to acquire his attention.

In short order, though, he, Shinn, Luna, and Rey had been summoned to an extravagant hotel which would be hosting the Chairman's temporary stay. The four pilots were gathered out on a balcony and after introductions were made, they now sat at a table long enough for them, the Chairman, and Captain Gladys. Even though Athrun was trying to keep himself focused and ready for what Durandal would want to say, he had been able to notice something that surprised him slightly. Rey, the unflappable Rey Za Burrel, had an expression of anxiety on his face, his gaze almost unconsciously drifting towards the city and horizon.

After Durandal had informed Shinn of the likelihood of his receiving a decoration for his heroic efforts at Lohengrin Gate, as well as the battle outside Orb, the Chairman finally ended the small talk. It was slightly surprising to Athrun to hear that despite the Earth Alliance's increased military strength and technologies, there had been no major battles taking place up in space. In fact, it seemed that ZAFT was having more troubles with recent pirate uprisings than duking it out with the Alliance.

"As far as the Earth is concerned, I'm in the dark here as well," Durandal continued, his expression impeccably impassive. "There are just so many variables that have an active role in what's taking place. Like here, other regions wish to fight the Alliance, yet only a few of them have attempted to contact us to request aid in doing so. It seems that a certain individual who has recently appeared is going about and helping those who need it. This is giving the people a sense of hope. Which leads me to question: what are we doing here?"

All those present knew exactly who the Durandal was referencing, but they made no comment on it. Instead, Captain Gladys said, "Has there been any progress towards negotiating a ceasefire?"

"No," Durandal denied, resignation thick in his voice. "The Alliance is unwilling to compromise on _anything_. We don't wish for this war to continue, but with things as they are now…" As Durandal's gaze flickered between the gathered pilots in front of him, he suddenly seemed to realize just what he was saying because he quickly said, "Perhaps this isn't the subject I should be discussing with such fine soldiers like yourselves. But ending the war and choosing a path that doesn't involve war is much harder than choosing to go to war."

"Yes, but—" Shinn stuttered to a halt immediately when he realized that he'd acquired all of their attentions. "Sorry, sir."

"No, go ahead," the man said in a soothing voice. "I value all comments from people who fight on the frontlines. I invited you all here to hear your various opinions. Go ahead, speak freely, Shinn."

"I agree that we should avoid fighting at all costs," the young ace said tentatively. "But if the enemy's threatening us, then we have no other choice. If we don't fight when there's an obvious need, then we won't be able to protect anyone, not even ourselves. Innocent people, who just want to have _normal_ lives, _should_ be protected."

"But there's a problem with that," Athrun said quietly, his gaze slightly unfocused as he remembered a specific memory. "A friend asked me a question once: if a person kills for vengeance, and is killed for being a killer, then how will we ever find peace? When I was first asked that, I was unable to come up with an answer…and I still am. Which is one of the reasons why I'm back here on the battlefield."

"Yes, that's the essentially problem," Durandal agreed as he stood up to walk over by the balcony overlooking the city and a nearby orange GOUF Ignited. "Why do we keep fighting if there's no end in sight? Why don't wars ever go away? People have asked those questions throughout history. And I have no doubt that the ones truly responsible for this war, the ones who will make the most profit out of the business we know as 'war,' is Logos."

"Logos?" the pilots repeated to themselves. They'd never heard of any organization or business with that name before. But then, Durandal was the Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs, so it really didn't surprise them that he knew of something that they didn't.

"Yes," Durandal said, nodding slightly in affirmation. "Logos, true merchants of death who turn massacres and battlefields into a means of profit, and the original creators of the ideal known as Blue Cosmos. If possible, I wish to end this cycle that they'd created…if possible."

"Chairman," Rey said, speaking for the first time since any of the other three pilots had arrived. "Recently, we have come across some new information about that 'certain individual' who you had spoken about earlier."

"Oh?" A flicker of surprise flashed over Gilbert's face as he turned to face them. Under his calm, questioning gaze, Shinn and Luna couldn't help but squirm slightly, as though they were mere children who'd just got their hands caught in the cookie jar by their most beloved uncle. And though Rey didn't so much as flinch, Athrun's gaze had turned into a slight glare at the blond who brought up the subject. Even Talia looked away slightly as she daintily sipped her tea in an effort to avoid drawing more attention to herself. "What kind of information?"

"It's not really something I think we should discuss here, sir," Athrun said, his voice under complete control. "Chances seem pretty good that we'll end up getting into an argument over something."

Now Durandal was _really_ curious. Walking forward, he reclaimed his earlier seat and settled into a contemplative state. "Please, tell me. We have so little data as it is. Any new information in regards this person would be very valuable at this point."

"Commander Zala was given a video on a conversation between Akira Iyadomi and a local rebel when we destroyed the Lohengrin Gate," Shinn said immediately, pointedly ignoring Athrun's gaze. "Iyadomi thinks we're trying to conquer the world by using the war as an excuse."

"Is that so?" Durandal's voice and expression were a perfect blank, not hinting in the least bit towards his own opinion on the matter.

"Kira is only doing what he believes is right," Athrun said levelly as he took a sip of his own tea. "And until he's given a _just_ reason to believe otherwise, he will not change his mind on what he thinks he needs to do… He's always been like that."

"Kira?" Durandal asked, his gaze questioning as he peered at the FAITH agent.

"Kira Yamato."

For just an instant, surprise flickered in Durandal's eyes but he quickly suppressed it. "How do you know for certain that it's him, Athrun?"

"He's been my friend for years," Athrun said simply. "I'd recognize him anywhere."

"I see," turning to gaze at the other pilots, Durandal spotted the hefty frown on Shinn's face. "Is something the matter, Shinn?"

Looking surprised for a second, Shinn quickly shook his head. "No, sir, it's just a little disagreement between Commander Zala and me about his _friend_. Completely irrelevant, sir."

Smiling slightly in amusement, Durandal said, "Tell me, I'm rather interested."

"It's a question of beliefs and loyalty, Chairman," Athrun said evenly. "Though he never said it, Kira implies that he's as much of an enemy of ZAFT as he is the Earth Alliance. However, I know for a fact that all of the battles that he's been involved in so far have resulted in far fewer causalities than what might've occurred. He's fighting to save lives by ending all battles as quickly as he can."

"I see," That was more or less what Durandal had believed himself. "And what does this argument entail?"

"That if _Kira_ were to suddenly attack ZAFT," Shinn said with iron in his voice. "I'd kill him."

"Just because he might attack us doesn't make him an immediate enemy, Shinn," Athrun said, repeating the same phrase he had said several times before.

Turning a strong glare on his superior officer, Shinn said, "If he's shooting at me, I'm going to damn well shoot back, Commander. It's simple self-defense."

Pausing slightly to stare at the younger ace with an almost pitying air, Athrun asked, "So you'll shoot _anyone_ down if they're attacking you?"

"That's what I just said!"

"Alright," Athrun nodded slightly, accepting Shinn's firm stance. "Then if we were on the battlefield and Luna started attacking you, you'd kill her too, right?"

"What?!" Shinn's question was the only noise that disturbed the sudden eerie silence that consumed the area. Everyone was staring at Athrun as they waited for an explanation or clarification to his statement. However, the FAITH agent's eyes were focused solely upon his subordinate.

"By your own words, you'd kill Luna without a second thought as to why she'd attack you," Athrun said evenly, earning a fierce glare from Shinn as he turned his words back on him. "Therefore, because you'd killed her without even attempting to understand the reasons why, you'd have never known that she had been tricked into believing that _you_ had become a danger to everyone on the _Minerva_. That she was merely following orders…_MY_ orders. You'd have killed her and not ever have known that it was really _me_ who you should've been aiming at."

"Why are you saying this?" Shinn demanded, stealing Luna's question before she could voice it.

"This is not a world of absolutes, Shinn," Athrun said. "Though you have every right to defend yourself against an attacker, the fact that you'd never consider the person's motivations could put you into a potentially dangerous situation and you'd never realize it until it was too late."

Turning his gaze back to the table in front of him, Athrun finished his statement by saying, "By living in a world of absolutes, you could easily kill or ruin a person who might've easily become a close friend or ally. Someone who might've been able to help you out of that dangerous situation before it escalated too far."

Seeing the contemplative state the gathered pilots had fallen into, Durandal spoke up, "Yes, that is one of the many delicacies and complications of politics in the modern world. But unfortunately, in this current time, I'm afraid that only ones who we can truly know are on our side in this conflict are the ones who've already committed themselves to fighting with us."

Before anything else could be said, a loud commotion from behind the panel doors that led to the interior. A moment later they burst open with a gray-haired man in glasses and expensive-looking but badly-ruffled suit stumbling into view. "Mr. Chairman! We've got a problem!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**4:40pm (Ten minutes earlier)**

If there was one thing that Meer had been looking forward to for the past few weeks, it was the chance to get to see Athrun again. Chairman Durandal had informed her that this first concert would be in the city that the _Minerva_ would be arriving in shortly, so there would be a very good chance of the young Zala being there when she started singing. It honestly felt so much longer than it really was since they'd parted ways back on the PLANTs.

Though she hadn't seen him at her concert, which would've been difficult because of the sheer size of the crowd, she had been able to see the massive warship pull into the harbor halfway through it. Once she'd gone through all the steps of signing some autographs, taking a few dozen pictures with some random soldiers and civilians, and trying to raise the overall morale of the people, she'd quickly taken a fast shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Now she was finally ready to go see him.

For the umpteenth time in less than a few minutes, Meer had to resist the urge to ask the driver to go a little faster. She understood the need for safety and to maintain the image of being an ever-calm and patient idol, but she was just so excited! Her stomach was quite literally twisting itself into knots and she was practically trembling from the amount of restraint it was taking for her to suppress her still very high levels of adrenaline after that concert.

"Relax, Miss Clyne," Mr. Sahashi said quietly from where he sat across from her in the limo. "I'm sure that Commander Zala will be pleased to see you."

"I hope so," she said energetically, gazing restlessly out the window. "It's been so long since—"

Meer never got to finish that sentence as all of a sudden the limo gave a sudden and violent jerk, causing all four people inside it to yelp in fear and confusion. If her seatbelt had not been buckled, Meer would've been thrown clear through the front windshield and out into the street, mostly likely being severely injured (if not outright killed) in the process.

Before anyone could react, the top of the limo was suddenly torn off as though it were little more than tinfoil. What the three passengers and driver saw through the opening was not what they'd have ever expected. It was some kind of large white and black mobile suit, its yellow eyes glowing ominously as it reached a massive hand into the exposed limo. With an almost dainty grace that belied its massive bulk, the mobile suit's fingers gently grabbed Meer and hoisted her out of the wrecked vehicle.

Only now finally overcoming her surprise, Meer gave into her fear and futilely tried to scramble out of the machine's neo-titanium grip. Except for letting out loud shrieks of fear, Meer could do nothing as the suit lifted her ever higher from the ground and towards its upper chest. When she was little more than a short jumping distance away, a panel slid aside. Rising up from its depths, a dark-clothed blond-haired individual emerged. Meer could only stare in fright as the person, a young man if she had to guess, pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her!

"Do you wanna die?" the creep demanded, his surprisingly soothing voice cutting through the fog of fear that was clouding her mind. Seeing that he'd gotten her attention, he continued, "If you don't want to, I suggest you come here or I won't be able to guarantee your safety when those ZAKUs arrive!"

"Why are you doing this?!" she demanded, momentarily regaining her courage. "Who are you?!"

"Someone fighting for peace," the young man said. Holding the pistol up threateningly, he said, "If you won't climb into the cockpit with me, I'm afraid I'll have to transport you in the hands of the mobile suit. And trust me when I say that it will be a _very_ uncomfortable position! Either way, you're coming with me. _Now make up your mind!!_"

Flinching at the volume of his voice, Meer chanced a look down towards the street. To her horror, the mobile suit had slowly started rising into the air after it had snatched her of the limo without her noticing. From the height they were now at, it would've been suicide for her or any Coordinator to jump free. Scowling at the man, she slowly edged closer to him as a sudden strong wind blew over them, kicking up her dress threateningly. Taking a deep breath, she took a leap of faith and stumbled into the man's awaiting arms.

Rather than lower them back into the cockpit like she'd thought he would, the young man grabbed a lever and eased it slightly downward, lowering the mobile suit gently back to the ground. By this point, a considerable crowd had formed around the mobile suit and the many people were staring up at it. Some people started running when the Gundam began to descend again, others were too busy taking photos to run, and the remainder just couldn't help but stare up in confusion of what was happening.

As it landed upon the ground, the mobile suit's left foot once again landed upon the limo, utterly smashing its engine to pieces. Meer couldn't help but watch in confusion as the pilot suddenly threw the pistol he'd been threatening her with down towards Mr. Sahashi. Why would he throw away his gun? Just as that thought had registered in her mind, the cockpit suddenly descended into the massive war machine with the hatch closing above them.

"Why are you doing this?" Meer demanded, glaring at the blond who held her securely.

"You better hold on," the blond pilot said, ignoring her question as he gripped both hands upon the controls. "This could be a little rough flying and I don't need you doing anything that could cause both of us to get hurt if we get shot down." Then he pushed the same lever from before and Meer found herself pressed heavily into his lap as the G-forces rapidly escalated.

"Where are we going?" she demanded.

A loud beeping on the panel cutting off any reply she might've received. Glancing at the forward screen, she watched as a pair of green ZAKUs on Guuls came flying towards them, beam rifles out and ready.

"_Attention, Neo Freedom! Land __**immediately!**_" a rough voice ordered as one of the ZAKU suddenly opened fire. "_Land now or we will __**shoot**__ you down!_"

Meer yelped in surprise, fear, and disorientation as she was suddenly thrown about the cockpit as her mobile suit captor dodged the shots. Even though she quickly formed a death grip upon the pilot's chest, the immense G-forces continued to threaten at tearing her apart and bouncing her about the small interior.

"Idiots," her captor muttered darkly as his hands danced across the controls.

The Gundam suddenly lurched forward with a massive boost in speed, once again almost throwing Meer about the interior. Managing to glance out the corner of her eye again, Meer was momentarily able to glimpse her captor's mobile suit slice the arms and head piece off one ZAKU while simultaneously firing its beam rifle into the thruster assembly on the second ZAKU's back.

Quickly holstering both weapons, the pilot's hands raced over a nearby keyboard and typed in a rapid series of commands. The next moment Meer became acutely aware of the fact that the entire cockpit was rotating so that the two of them would remain upright. Glancing at the monitor again, she realized that the mobile suit had just performed some kind of transformation and had gone completely invisible. They were soon flying at high altitudes, Mirage Colloid active and making them completely undetectable from any rescue forces.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**4:51pm**

"Kidnapped?!" Durandal demanded, sounding confused and angry. "How'd this happen?!"

"We were—on our way—here, sir," Mr. Sahashi said, still very red in the face from the marathon sprint he'd just endured. "Car crashed—roof pulled off—it was the—Freedom!"

"The Freedom?!" several other voices repeated with Durandal, surprise in all of them.

Nodding as best he could from his sagging position, Mr. Sahashi continued, "Grabbed Clyne—flew off and—left this behind, sir."

Raising his hand, Meer's director and spokesman held up a pistol that looked like it had been bought from a store only a few days ago. Taking the gun from the man, Durandal moved to examine it, only for the orange-haired FAITH agent who'd been standing off to the side during the entire conversation earlier to move forward and take the weapon.

"If you'll allow me, Chairman," the young man said, carefully handling the object. After receiving a short nod of approval, the man systemically and carefully examined and dismantled the weapon with relative ease.

"Now this is interesting," the man commented after he reassembled it, earning curious gazes from everyone around. Looking back at Mr. Sahashi, the FAITH agent said, "I assume that this is the weapon that he threatened Ms. Clyne with?"

Mr. Sahashi only spared him a curt nod before he returned to catching his breath. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the orange-haired man cracked a small grin and a sardonic chuckle escaped his control. Seeing the questioning and demanding gazes from everyone else, he simple said, "The gun isn't even loaded. He captured Ms. Clyne with an _empty_ weapon."

* * *

**(Author's Note)** Sorry about the long delay, first I had taken my laptop in for a virus scan (which took days) and then I get it back and suddenly I can't log onto .

I hope you all like this chapter. Yes, it is mostly a talkative and little to no action in it, but we do get some interesting views into the beliefs of various individuals. I would how many of you saw that 'Lacus-kidnapping' coming? I'm sure a lot of you were guessing it had something to with Chairman Durandal instead, eh? All credit for that idea goes to **animefan29** who recommended it to me during one of our discussions. I wonder how many of you can accurately guess the symbolism of the empty pistol that Akira had left behind for Durandal to figure out...

Rest assured, that a fair portion of what's going to happen next is going to be _quite_ different from canon. No more piggybacking off the shoulders of geniuses for me! ...Not as much at least. ^_^;;


	13. Operation Hunter

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 13: Operation Hunter_

**November 25, 73 CE  
Diocuia, Turkey  
7:33pm**

"Chairman, has there been any word on the whereabouts of Ms Clyne?" "Do you know why she was taken?" "Is it true you've already established a rescue mission for Ms Clyne?" "Mr. Chairman, what's the significance of the gun that the kidnapper had left behind?"

Durandal's face was nothing if not impassive during the interrogation—I mean interview—of the press. This was perhaps one of the most delicate yet easily very rewarding jobs of being a well-known or important politician. Anything and everything he said could and would be heard by many millions of people. Some politicians tended to forget that on occasion if they were caught in the midst of a dire crisis of some sort, which could easily lead to their downfall since the media had a very long memory. This situation, though truly unexpected, was still nothing that Durandal couldn't handle.

In fact, he almost felt like smiling in gratitude for Meer's very public kidnapping. Many of the people in the crowd who had gathered during the act had been able to photograph or record it as it was happening. Durandal's people had already secured one such video and photograph, which they were now attempting to clean and magnify the image so that the entire world would finally see the face of the pilot of the Neo Freedom.

Holding up his hand to stall the rapid-fire questions, Durandal's calm presence to the crisis seemed to have a sudden resounding effect on the reporters as they quieted down to hear him speak. "My friends, it is indeed a sad fact that Ms. Clyne has been kidnapped and by a person who we have no true idea of his intentions towards Ms. Clyne, the PLANTS, nor even the Earth itself. But I urge you all to remain calm in the crisis, so we will not jump at shadows."

"However, I do have a message for the individual responsible for all this, as I am sure that he's watching this broadcast," he stared straight into the numerous cameras with a powerful gaze. "If you return Ms Clyne to us within the next forty-eight hours, I will grant you amnesty. I also understand the symbol you had left behind. An empty weapon can hurt nobody, which is clearly your intent for Ms Clyne. You have shown yourself to be a protector of the people, Akira Iyadomi. So why do you decide to strike at us among the PLANTs now when you could be doing so much more aiding us in our struggle?"

Durandal had little doubt that Akira Iyadomi wouldn't even give his offer a second thought before discarding it, if Athrun was correct in his assumption. However, by delivering such an offer in such a way, the public would view Akira's kidnapping of Meer as some sort of malicious crime against them and their attempts at ending the war quickly. He was effectively trapping the Freedom pilot into either submitting to his demands to keep his name clean or to be truly labeled as an enemy of both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance together. But if Athrun was correct, that was probably just what Akira wanted to begin with.

However, this now meant that Durandal finally had his excuse to take more aggressive actions against the maverick to his plans. "However, until Ms Clyne has been safely returned to us, unharmed, I'm afraid that you have effectively become ZAFT's number one most wanted individual. I hereby initiate Operation Hunter, whose sole focus will be to bring you to justice for your crimes against the PLANTs and Earth alike, as well as the rescue of Ms Clyne. Consider this fair warning, Mr. Iyadomi."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

_**Archangel**_**, Scandinavia  
7:40pm**

"Well, that's it," Tolle said with a tiny grin on his face. "It is official: I am _so_ jealous of Kira right now!" Feeling the various glances on his shoulders, the scarred Orb ace turned and said with a wide but slightly strained frown, "He gets to do all the fun stuff and we're stuck here on the _Archangel_ for weeks at a time, just like in the last war."

"A necessary evil," Andy drawled slightly as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair before he turned his gaze back to Chairman Durandal as the interview continued.

He, too, had begun feeling a somewhat mild case of cabin fever for the past week or so. There were only so many times you could perform routines before they became monotonous and boring, slowly driving a person to their limits before things began to heat up from tempers. Watching the news grew boring and predictable, maintaining the _Archangel_ was practically pointless due to the fact that nothing needed immediate repairs, and you could only teardown a mobile suit so far before you _had_ to reassemble it. And even his beloved hobby of developing new coffee flavors just wasn't enough to him occupied for very long.

"I'm beginning to think that maybe we should've insisted on Kira joining us back in Orb," Murrue said quietly, leaning back her captain's chair. "At first it had seemed like a good idea to let him go and do as he wished. But lately he's been getting more and more reckless."

Cagalli snorted as she said, "Kidnapping Lacus' double isn't reckless; it's pure stupidity! Now ZAFT is going to hunt him down like a serial killer. And with so many people torn between helping the PLANTs and supporting Kira, there's no safe place for him to hide anymore."

"You got that right," Andy agreed with sad resignation. "And when the Chairman's window of amnesty closes, it's only going to get that much tougher for him."

"That may be so," Lacus said from her seat at the communication's station. "However, the longer Kira manages to evade them, the possibility of the people not blindly following the Chairman anymore slightly increases. Although, depending on Kira's actions from now on, this could also work to Durandal's advantage now."

"The smartest thing Kira could do now is lie low for a little bit," Tolle commented from his slouch against his old station's chair. "Let things blow over, and when his trail's cold strike where they're least expecting it."

"But he won't," Cagalli muttered in a knowing tone. "He'll keep fighting to protect people, no matter where he is…I wonder how Athrun's taking all this?" She couldn't help fiddling with the ring the blue-haired Coordinator had given her as she said that.

"Probably no better than any of us, I'd venture," Andy remarked idly.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**Diocuia, Turkey  
8:00pm**

Colonel Hirai Hisashi let out a low sigh of resignation as he set his new orders down on his desk. Though they were entirely predictable, he already knew this was going to be an extremely difficult mission…if they even achieved it at all! Colonel Hisashi and his crew of the _Lesseps_-class land battleship, the _Alhazen_, and its entire contingent of ten ZAKUs of various models had been reassigned to carry out Operation Hunter. And although the Chairman had authorized him the right to request any aid from any ZAFT forces nearby, Colonel Hisashi could already see that they were at a massive disadvantage.

The Neo Freedom had bluntly shown itself to be a superior all-round Gundam. The machine would strike without warning and vanish just as quickly afterwards, usually by use of its acquired Mirage Colloid. The pilot seemed to target only Alliance factories and battles between guerillas and soldiers. But, most importantly of all, it never stayed in one place for very long. That was the ultimate disadvantage for the _Alhazen_ at this point because it could only go so fast across certain terrain. Colonel Hisashi would have be able to perfectly predict his target's next moves, conceal his forces until his target arrived, and then strike hard and fast enough to shoot it down long enough to rescue Ms Clyne or learn her whereabouts from the pilot.

Yes, it was going to be _very_ difficult.

But there was some good news at least. If the pilot of the Neo Freedom kept to his previous pattern, he'd be heading in a general westerly direction. So chances seemed pretty good that he'd at least have to stop somewhere in Eastern Europe, somewhere preferably close to the Black Sea at this point.

"New orders, Colonel?" a gentle voice asked as Hisashi's office door slid open. Deputy Captain Jasmine Mutomura walked in with that silky grace that was better used by royalty than soldiers. Hisashi spared only a moment to stare up at her vibrant green hair before he nodded crisply.

"Operation Hunter," he said simply, running a hand through his graying black hair. "Effective immediately. Looks like the Chairman wants us to be running about the countryside for the rest of the war."

"Don't be like that, Colonel," Jasmine said, smiling cutely at his annoyed comment. "He wouldn't have assigned us if we didn't have the necessary skills to complete the mission."

Okay, that was true at least, he quietly agreed. In ZAFT, Colonel Hirai Hisashi was renowned for being an expert of seek-and-destroy missions from the previous war. Although he never amounted to much and never participated in any of the major battles of the war, his Team was still responsible for no less than a dozen successful missions against guerilla-like foes. However, the Neo Freedom was in a class of its own in that regard!

Sighing again and shaking his head to rid it of any unnecessary thoughts, Hisashi looked up and said, "Recall all our forces for immediate mobilization. I want the _Alhazen_ prepped and ready for launch by no less than 2100 hours, we depart at 2130 hours tonight."

Snapping into perfect military decorum, Captain Mutomura threw a precise salute as she barked out, "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**Baia Mare, Romania  
9:56pm**

The chill of late autumn and near winter was very noticeable here in contrast to Diocuia only a few hundred miles to the southeast. Despite the exceptionally large city of Baia Mare that was located only a short mile away in the flatlands directly south and west of these foothills, there was relative isolation in the heavily-forested bluffs and hills of northern Romania. The added benefit of all the tree cover was only an added incentive for Akira to choose this as his current hiding spot with the fake Lacus as his prisoner.

Even without the Mirage Colloid active, the arrival of the Neo Freedom would've gone almost completely unnoticed. The darkness of the night sky over the woodlands was very deep thanks to the thick cloud cover that blocked out the moon and stars above. Transforming the Freedom back into its mobile suit mode, he landed the giant machine with a dainty precision in a small clearing. Maintaining the colloid, Akira ducked the Gundam down and had it creep slowly into the forest cover. Normally he'd have dropped the colloid as soon as he landed, but with the sleeping lady in his lap he decided to be extra careful to avoid detection from any of ZAFT's observation satellites over the Earth. Once he was satisfied that the large Gundam was as hidden from view as he could get it with it being in a deep crouch, wings tucked in and lowered, he finally deactivated the colloid.

Letting out a low sigh of relief, he looked down at the sleeping face of the pink-haired double. While her hair a shade darker than the real Lacus', the shape of her face was _nearly_ a perfect imitation. The poor girl had worked herself up into such a panicked frenzy during that first half hour of captivity that Akira had been forced to knock her out, something he felt very little remorse over since she had quickly worn on his nerves. And yet now as he stared down at her peaceful sleeping face, he felt that eerily familiar jab of pain in the back of his mind. Before he was able to summon the willpower to suppress it, he was presented the face of another pink-haired girl who was sleeping soundly on his shoulder. _Miss Lacus…?_

Shaking his head vigorously to clear the image from his mind, he turned his attention back to locking down the Neo Freedom's OS. He had immediate supplies to get from the nearby city; a place which he couldn't bring this young lady to unless he wanted to draw unwanted attention. He also couldn't leave her outside or she'd run off, so he'd have to lock her in the cockpit of the Neo Freedom until he returned. And with a lock on the operating system, she wouldn't even be able to activate the radio to call for help on the off-chance that she managed to find the activation controls.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 26, 73 CE  
7:03am**

Consciousness came back slowly to her, her mind as foggy and dark as where she now lay at. Where was she? Why was she here? What time was it? Shouldn't one of her handlers have come by to wake her up? She vaguely remembered that she had a concert to attend to in the afternoon at some random city in eastern Turkey. She couldn't waste time sleeping in like she use to do because there were so many things that needed to be done beforehand. And this bed was _extremely_ uncomfortable!

As she tried to roll over to find softer portion of the bed, her arm hit something that sent a stinging numbness through her wrist as her movement was abruptly halted. Blearily opening her eyes, she stared down uncomprehendingly at the strange thing that dared injure her. It took a moment in the dark that she was in to see it was some kind of control lever, the kind that she had generally seen used in mobile suits. What would one of those be doing…in her…bed? Now she remembered! She'd been kidnapped by some crazy pilot in a Gundam-like mobile suit!

Sitting up abruptly, Meer immediately tried to survey her surroundings. In the darkness it was difficult but she quickly realized that she'd been sleeping in the mobile suit's pilot chair, which had somehow been lowered into a more comfortable position for its sleeping user. None of the monitors were activated, obviously, but it was clear that they had long since landed and with the absence of the pilot that could mean that he was no longer anywhere nearby.

Hurrying up towards where she knew the exit hatch was located, it was to her great dismay that she found it closed and locked when she tried to open it. She was trapped in her kidnapper's mobile suit while he was out doing whatever! As that thought reached her mind, Meer felt a tiny wave of hope rise in her. Maybe she could somehow power up the suit and call for help on an open channel radio? There were surely either ZAFT forces or sympathetic Naturals nearby who'd hear her and come to help right?!

She didn't know how long she'd fiddled with the various controls in her blind attempts to find the 'on' switch, but it couldn't have been more than ten minutes before a sound reached her ears. There was a strange _clunk_ echoing sound coming from somewhere off to her left side on the outside of the mobile suit. As the sound grew closer, it grew louder and more recognizable as footsteps until they stopped at the cockpit's entry hatch.

Meer didn't even have time to look around for possible weapons to defend herself when the hatch suddenly slid out. Two things immediately came to Meer's attention when that hatch slid open. The first was that though the sun was still clearly on the horizon, the brightness of sky above nearly blinded her after her long time in the darkness. And the second thing was a rush of bitter cold air and quite a few snowflakes that came sweeping down into her formerly warm sanctuary, nearly freezing her on the spot.

Then a dark figure appeared over her, silhouetted by the dazzling cold blue sky. Lifting something forward, he called down to her, "Put these on. It snowed last night here." After stating this, the figure dropped several pieces of thick clothing down upon her. "If you want some light, there's a little yellow button in the top right portion of the forward control panel that will light up the interior for you." With that said, the man abruptly closed the hatch to spare her from the cold. Although, now that it was inside, that was a purely subjective gesture.

Quickly abiding his directions, Meer sought out the small button. When the interior was indeed bathed in light, she quickly changed into the clothing he'd dropped for her. And so she went from wearing her attractive concert dress to a pair of thick black pants, a heavy purple sweater, an unremarkable white winter jacket, and simple brown hat and gloves. Once she was fully redressed and gathered up her old clothes, she knocked loudly on the hatch above her.

This time prepared for the brightness, Meer was able to actually see the person above her as he offered her his hand of assistance. As he pulled her out of his Gundam, Meer glared resentfully at the slightly taller man in front of her even as she attempted to adjust to the deep coldness around them.

"Are you hungry?" he asked kindly, gesturing slightly to the side where there was a small column of smoke rising. "I've got some breakfast cooking. It's just some canned soup and bread, but it's better than nothing."

Meer didn't answer him, merely continued to glare angrily at him. Seeing that he wouldn't get a response from her, the man merely shrugged in a clearly unimpressed manner before moving away. Meer held her glare on his retreating form even as he jumped from the mobile suit's chest area to the left arm where he used the large shield as a gradual slide to the ground before he disappeared from view under the slab of metal.

'_How dare he?_' she couldn't help but ask herself. '_Really, how __**dare**__ he kidnap __**me**__, take me to who knows __**where**__, keep me locked up in something __**nearly**__ as good as a prison cell, almost __**freeze**__ me solid, and then offer me some __**breakfast**__ as though he'd done none of the aforementioned atrocities! Does he __**truly know**__ who I am?! __**One**__ word from me and I could easily get the entirety of the PLANTs calling for his blood for these injustices!_'

She could've very easily gone on with these silent rants in her mind, but her stomach was kind enough to remind her of one very important detail. She was quite hungry after having only a small lunch before her concert and missing dinner yesterday due to being kidnapped. After a moment of serious consideration, she slowly and carefully followed the same route that the man had taken off the snow-covered mobile suit.

After she'd stumbled down the slide of the shield (how did he make it look so easy?), she found a very cozy looking camp hidden and protected under the shield's bulk. Though it hadn't been enough to keep the snow from reaching it, there was decidedly less of it here than there was on the other side. There was a small tent set up, and even though she couldn't see inside, Meer was quite sure that it was packed with either blankets or quite thick sleeping bags. He had spent the night out here in the cold, alone, while she slept in the pleasantly warm cockpit of his mobile suit? Against her better judgment, Meer's initial opinion of the man went up a peg or two for that small gesture of chivalry.

"You could've used the cable hoist instead of following me," the young blond man said from where he was sitting on a small snow-free rock in front of a fire that he'd built. He was busy attending to the promised meal of canned soup. He hadn't even removed the soup from its cans, but merely placed them close enough to the flames to slowly heat them up at a controlled pace. Quite close to the fire on the opposite side of where he was sitting was a small fold-up camping chair, clearly meant for her.

"So, what's your name?" the blond asked without looking up as she took a seat in the chair and began to soak in the warmth of the flames in front of her.

For half a second, a flash of fear went through her being. Had she somehow been found out? The Chairman's plan and need for her would be completely destroyed if he knew who she _wasn't_ was and decided to spread it! But then she quickly calmed herself down. There was no way he could know she wasn't the real Lacus Clyne; no one even knew where she had been for the past year at least!

"I know you're not Lacus," the blond interrupted her even as she started to open her mouth to defend herself. "I know because I know where she most assuredly is. So who are you really?"

"What are you talking about?!" Meer demanded impulsively. "Of course I'm Lacus!"

"Where were you on the morning of November 2?" he asked, finally looking up at her. There a certain gleam in those powerful blue eyes that momentarily froze all mental processing in Meer's mind as she stared into them. When she didn't immediately respond, he continued in calm voice, "You were up in the PLANTs, trying to calm everyone down after the nuclear attack. And you've been there, in the public eye, until a few days ago."

Returning to slowly stirring the cans, he was quiet for a moment before saying, "Therefore, you couldn't have been in Orb, hiding in a shelter against a group of ZAFT assassins who'd been sent to kill you."

"What are you talking about?" Meer couldn't help but ask.

"The fact that you don't recognize me only proves that you're not Lacus Clyne," the blond said in a distracted tone. "Because I was the one who saved her and the others from those ZAFT assassins."

"How could you possibly know that that wasn't someone else?" she demanded in as calm a voice as she could muster.

"Because the Lacus there actually knew specific things about the previous war," he said, taking a small taste of the soup to test its temperature. Apparently satisfied, he picked up the can and stuck a spoon into it before handing it to her, along with a pair of bread slices. "The Lacus there didn't generalize things like you do in your speeches." Though, with his amnesia, neither did he remember anything specific outside of what old newspapers and history texts said.

Despite her hunger, Meer couldn't help but stare at the young man for a few moments. Had he…had he really saved Lacus Clyne? But…but that couldn't be true! He must be lying!

"Eat up before it gets cold," he commented softly from where he was now stirring the second can.

Another growl of her stomach was all the prompting that Meer needed to immediately tuck into the chicken noodle soup and bread. With her slightly increased appetite, the small meal was devoured within several minutes.

"Who are you really?" he asked again once she'd finished scraping the can clean.

"Who are you?" she demanded in the same tone he used.

"You can call me Akira Iyadomi," he replied uninterestedly. As he continued, he gestured towards the mobile suit above them. "I'm the pilot of the Neo Freedom."

"The Freedom?" Meer asked, immediately turning her attention to what she could see of the large Gundam. "But…but how? I thought it was destroyed at Jachin Due."

"…For all intents and purposes, it was," Akira stated, his attention clearly still on his slowly cooking meal. "When we were found, I was one of the people who repaired it. Now I use it to free those who have been oppressed or require aid."

"What?" There was something…not quite right about that statement he'd made; she just couldn't put her finger on what though.

"Are you going to answer my question, or should I just pick a name for you?" Akira asked bluntly as he finally took his meal and began to eat.

"I'm Lacus Clyne," Meer repeated insistently, causing Akira to glance at her from over his soup can. Then he let out a sad sigh before returning to eating his breakfast. "Where are we? And why did you kidnap me?"

"I'm sure you can figure why," Akira said softly as he dipped a bread slice into the soup.

"…So I can't help the Chairman keep the people calm during this stupid war?" Meer guessed, her eyes narrowing into slits as her anger increased substantially. "Is that the reason?! You want this war to escalate into genocide like the last one almost did?!"

"No," he contradicted easily.

"Then you're really fighting for the Atlantic Federation?!" Meer guessed again in an appalled voice, almost unable to wrap her mind around such a ludicrous (but not unheard of) idea.

"No," he contradicted, just as calmly as before while he continued to eat.

"Are you doing this for money?" she asked, nearly out of ideas for what could drive a person to do such things. "Fame? Or do you simply enjoy battle and death?"

"No," he said, in that unchanged calmness that was rapidly wearing on her nerves.

"Fine then!" she snapped. "Why are you doing this?!"

Akira was silent as he merely continued to eat his meal in a slow and calm fashion. Meer just glared hotly at him as he ignored her presence. Once he was finished, he gathered up the empty soup cans and utensils. Just as she was about to yell at him for ignoring her, he reached into his tent and extracted a bundle of newspapers and held it for her to read the headlines. Though Meer wasn't an expert on multiple languages, she had certainly studied how to read the various dialects and tongues. Thus she was easily able to translate the bold-faced words.

'**Lacus Clyne kidnapped by Neo Freedom!!**' filled the top portion of the page with a picture of her in the hands of the large mobile suit back in Diocuia. Under the top headline was a smaller one, '**Chairman promises Pilot amnesty for her safe return**.'

"Do you know what this is?" Akira asked, his eyes focused upon her now. "Chairman Durandal manipulating Lacus' influential position to his advantage yet again."

Meer couldn't suppress a derisive snort at that. "Oh really? It looks more like he offering you a way to keep your life."

"And that's why it's so important to have gotten you away from him," Akira said as he carelessly tossed the paper into the flames. "You believe, beyond a measure of doubt, that he's faultless."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"When he first came to you to play Lacus Clyne, what were his reasons?" Akira asked, staring at her from over the smoke and flames of the burning paper. "Was it to merely protect the PLANTs and keep the people calm? Or was it to agree with and support whatever the hell he does in this war? How long ago did he actually come to you and had you prepare for this role?" His only answer was a deep glare from the girl across the flames. "The fact that he went through all this effort for you—for this role—indicates that he considered this war not only a possibility but that he was _expecting_ it to happen. If he could waste time preparing one little girl to become an imitation of Lacus Clyne, he could've certainly put that time to use preventing the war from ever happening."

Despite her best efforts, Meer couldn't stop herself from thinking thoughts that she really didn't want to think. The truth was that Durandal had come to her a good two months before the Break the World Incident. He had said that he suspected something bad was about to happen and that he needed someone to help him keep the people calm during that crisis, and since the real Lacus Clyne was nowhere to be found, he had asked her to temporarily fill those shoes. But when the war broke out, his need for her to continue that role had increased drastically. It was a role that Meer had been all too happy to continue doing. She had never questioned how Durandal could've known that something like Junius 7 was going to happen, which would start this new war. But now that she couldn't help it. How could he have predicted something like this?

"With a Lacus Clyne supporting all his efforts, regardless of what they are," Akira carried on. "all the people of the PLANTs and a large percentage of the people of Earth would all but blindly follow his plans. They would grow to think of him as flawless because he had the support of someone who was renowned to be an advocate of peace and understanding. Thus, when he eventually starts making less than politically or morally wise decisions, the people would still follow his lead _because he was so flawless_."

"Why are you saying this?" Meer asked, her voice little more than a mere peep in her uncertainty.

"You asked if I fight for the Earth Alliance or money or fame or to simply keep war and battles going?" Akira said quietly. "The truth is I hate fighting, I hate killing, and I especially hate wars. But what I hate more than anything else in this world is the thought of people who go to bed at night fearing to never again see their loved ones who are fighting on the frontlines."

"This is war!" Meer snapped defensively for the Chairman's sake. "Killing and deaths are unavoidable!"

"Are they?" Akira asked calmly. "Surely you know of the great skill of ZAFT's mobile suit pilots. Do you honestly think that they couldn't go through an entire battle being unable to do anything but kill their enemies? Though the cockpit of a mobile suit is indeed the largest and easiest of targets and it would be difficult, disabling an enemy's machine is _not_ impossible."

"They were enemies, trying to kill us!" Meer snapped, forgetting that she was no longer playing the role of Lacus' personality in her anger at Akira. "And we were only protecting ourselves when they attacked us!"

"Is that what you'd tell the countless families and friends of those poor men and women who've been killed on the battlefield?" he asked, his voice and expression those of great sadness and disappointment. "_They were __**enemies!**__ They were trying to kill __**us!**__ We had to __**protect ourselves**__, so we killed them!_' Those are the words of Patrick Zala and his followers."

That last statement silenced Meer's immediate defensive retort.

"And while you're busy rallying people to protect themselves against their 'enemies,' more lives are being lost when they could've been spared," he continued softly. "More families will learn that their beloved sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers will never be coming home because you insisted on killing them. And by doing such, you've assured yourselves that this war would never truly end because when those victims' children grow up and become strong, they'll want revenge for your vengeance."

Looking directly into Meer's uncomfortable eyes, Akira said bluntly, "The real Lacus would understand this. She'd never preach words that _mirror_ those of a genocidist, and that is exactly what they are once you peel away the deceit. Nor would she blindly follow a man who's using false pretenses to continue a pointless war."

Standing up with the intention of breaking camp, he said, "Until you understand that, _really_ understand that, I'm afraid that you'll be stuck with me for however long it takes."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**November 29, 73 CE  
**_**John Paul Jones**_**, Suez Base  
6:36am**

If there was ever one thing that could be considered an advantage about being the commander of a unit that officially didn't exist, it was that they were the first ones to receive any new 'toys' that the weapon development teams created. But that same thing could also be considered the biggest disadvantage for a ghost unit like Phantom Pain because they'd be nothing more than the dummy drivers of the new equipment. So they'd be going into battle without field tested equipment, without knowing whether or not that same equipment had specific limitations, or if there were hidden faults in the design that could prove fatal for the user that hadn't been discovered during lab testing.

It was for these very realistic worries that Captain Neo Roanoke stared up at the large machine above him. It was the latest model of the Earth Alliance's mass production lines, christened the GAT-05 Rapier. From what little information Neo could gain from the men who'd delivered it only an hour ago, it had been built using the stolen data of the old ZGMF-X10A Freedom. And it was certainly easy to see the 'family resemblance' to that legendary Gundam in the yellow eyes of the head piece.

Though the Rapier carried many of the design features of the older Strike Daggers and Windams, there were two crucial differences between the Rapier and Windams. The first of which was the fact that the Rapier could only be equipped with the Sword and Launcher Striker Packs. The second difference, and also the reason that made it impossible for compatibility with the Aile or Jet Pack, were the large wings that hung on its back. Though the Rapier only carried four of the Freedom's eight wings, they still offered all the maneuverability provided by the Aile Pack.

The mechanics promised that the Rapier would be a machine that was vastly superior to the Windam in all ways, nearly equal to the fabled 'Gundam-class' from which it was descended from. And as he stared up at the mobile suit, Neo couldn't help but silently agree that it did look like a very impressive weapon. But only on the battlefield could it prove its worth. Fortunately a battlefield was exactly where this violet mobile suit with its lime-green wings would be going in a very short time.

With the loss of Lohengrin Gate, as well as the large ZAFT occupation that was taking place in the region, the Alliance's control was weakening in a truly critical area. And with that damned ZAFT warship in the area, things looked pretty bleak for the Suez Base at the moment. Once the Orb fleet arrived in a few days, they'd begin their assault on that new ZAFT base that had been built in the harbor of Diocuia. Normally, when against that warship, Neo would've been torn between anticipating a hard-won victory or a staggering defeat like the last few occurrences had been. Truly, that was one powerful ship with just as powerful mobile suits. Even Neo had been hard-pressed to survive in that last battle against that new red Gundam and the combinable blue one.

He could only hope that these new Rapier mobile suits that they'd received would prove to be the critical piece that would _finally_ shift the advantage to their side.

* * *

**(Author's Note) **Well, there you have it. Not as long as some of my more recent chapters, but oh well. Next chapter we'll most definitely be seeing a major battle or two, and not necessarily because of the Earth Alliance pulling Orb into the war. Although that part will certainly have a considerable portion of the next chapter due simply to how Tolle in his beloved Fortitude Gundam would the situation differently than Kira did in canon.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, despite it being yet another mostly talkative one. Please tell me what you think of Meer and (A)kira's conversation, **animefan29** and I paid special attention to that piece. I had really wanted to keep her personality as close to canon as it had been shown as to this point.

And I bow down (yet again ;D) to **animefan29** for his suggestion of the Earth Alliance creating a mass production model of the Freedom. I admit that I really hadn't considered that possibility so much as to the Alliance creating a series of experimental models based on the old data they'd acquired in the previous war. As it stands, I hope you all enjoy reading **animefan29**'s babies in the next chapter because they will most likely be playing a significant role in so way (I still haven't figured just how though).

**GAT-05 Rapier  
**Unit type: prototype mass production, all-purpose mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance  
First deployment: December 2, 73 CE (Battle of Dardanelles)  
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery  
Color: White (body), navy (torso), gray (wings)  
Equipment and design features:  
Sensors, range unknown  
Striker Packs (Launcher, Sword)  
Basic armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, mounted in chest  
1 x A52 offensive shield type E, mounted on either arm  
1 x MA-BAR721 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist  
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on waist  
2 x MMI-M20S "Pollux IX" railgun, folded underneath hips, spread out in use  
2 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in hip armor  
Optional armaments:  
2 x 350mm gun launcher, mounted on right shoulder (Launcher Pack)  
1 x 120mm anti-ship vulcan gun, mounted on right shoulder (Launcher Pack)  
1 x "Agni" 320mm hyper impulse cannon, mounted behind left arm (Launcher Pack)  
1 x "Schwert Gewehr" 15.78 meter anti-ship sword, stored on back (Sword Pack)  
1 x "Midas Messer" beam boomerang, mounted on left shoulder of Sword armor (Sword Pack)  
1 x "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor, mounted on left forearm, can be fired out on a line (Sword Pack)


	14. The Balance of Power Shifts

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 14: The Balance of Power Shifts_

**November 29, 73 CE  
Earth Alliance Lunar Headquarters  
7:33pm**

In space, there is no air. There is no sound. And, above all else, there is no gravity. In direct view of the sun, temperatures could reach as higher than four hundred degrees, while in the shade they could fall lower than negative two hundred Fahrenheit. Creatures like human beings were not designed to survive in such harsh conditions, and that's not even taking into account solar flares and high-intensity radiation levels. Simply put, a human could die within an instant of exposure and that's if they're _lucky_.

And as the team of twelve suited individuals dropped lightly upon the rough surface below them, each of them was acutely aware of these dangers outside their mothership. But they had a mission to accomplish, one of significant importance. So they pushed those fears aside and channeled their focus of attention to the sole purpose of completing that mission.

Where they now stood was on the outside one of the hangars of the Earth Alliance's lunar base. After the unsuccessful attack on the PLANTs almost a month ago, this base had been critically weakened due to the massive loss of manpower that occurred in that rash conflict. But though it was lacking in the fleet and mobile suit defenses, its automated beam cannons and missile launchers still worked with lethal accuracy.

As Jared Darre drew forward with his code-hacking 'little buddy,' the other eleven took up positions to guard their flanks, weapons at the ready. It took scarcely a moment before the code was cracked and the door slid open, a blast of dust and what little air inside sweeping out in an instant. Before the air had even fully evacuated the chamber, the twelve operatives flooded inside and closed the door behind them.

In the vacuum of space, the sound of a blaring alarm suddenly going off as the door opened was completely unnoticed by the trespassing pirates. However, the flashing red lights that generally accompanied such an alarm were easily spotted. This caused Jared to quickly plug his little buddy back into the terminal beside the door. Within a few short moments, the alarm was silenced and canceled but the damage was already done. There was now a guaranteed possibility of an Alliance warship dropping by to investigate the alarm; their mission time had just fractured dramatically! As Jared rapidly erased the record of their trespass and established a false trail as a cover, the majority of the team hurriedly swept forward to complete their mission.

"It looks like Professor K was correct after all," Dalen Bertelsen, the commander of the team, said as he surveyed the hangar in front of him with an impressed and highly relieved aura about him. In front of him was an entire cache of unused nuclear missiles stacked neatly atop one another. These unlucky beauties had been part of the small fraction of the fleet that hadn't been destroyed in the attack.

"What? That the Naturals didn't make better use of their weaponry when they had the chance?" Jared asked, the amusement in his voice was quite noticeable. "Of course she'd be right about where they're hiding these things, Lieutenant!"

"The Naturals aren't as stupid as they use to be," Dalen said quietly. Turning to his group, the former FAITH agent barked out, "Alright, people! You know your tasks and your missions! We need the ones we're taking ready in—" He glanced at his watch. "—fifteen minutes! You know how Siemer gets when we're late! Let's move!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 2, 73 CE  
**_**John Paul Jones  
**_**7:33pm**

If there was one thing that Neo immediately knew about the young man who'd greeted himself as the 'Supreme Commander of the Orb Military' Yuna Roma Seiran, it was that this idiot didn't deserve his self-proclaimed title. The young man had enough ego and enthusiasm to power the old GENESIS superweapon sevenfold and that was when he was being 'docile'. Neo couldn't even begin to understand how those under his command could put up with him for more than a few minutes.

When they had concluded their plans for the ambush on the _Minerva_ and entry into the Black Sea, Neo had purposely allowed Seiran to run the 'meeting' and agreed with his ridiculous plan. Honestly, attack the _Minerva_ as it was exiting the strait? That was about the most _rudimentary_ of attack strategies out there! But what really set this strategy up for disaster wasn't the fact that Seiran was grossly overestimating the strengths of his military and underestimating the _Minerva_, but it was the simple fact of where he was planning to place his own forces. The fool was forgetting all about one simple fact: the _Minerva_ had a positron cannon. By stationing his ships near the exit of the strait, he placing them within easy reach of the warship's cannon as it exited. He was putting his taskforce (and himself) into a direct line of fire!

However, Neo had easily agreed with the plan and complimented the fool for such a 'well-planned operation.' By doing this, he was playing on the man's ego and making him believe that he had earned the confidence and favoritism of the Alliance military. This would make him quite easy to manipulate when things went pear-shaped during the battle, which Neo knew they would. Despite himself, he couldn't help but feel remorse for the poor men and women who'd die today due to that fool's incompetence.

From the bridge of the _John Paul Jones_, Neo watched as the battle unfolded more or less how he'd imagined. The two pilots of those extraordinary mobile suits were easily fighting off the swarms of Murasames and Astrays. But where the red one was merely disabling them, the blue and white mobile suit was completely crushing them, killing the poor pilots inside within an instant of engaging them.

And then, as predicted, something happened that completely threw the battle into chaos. But not necessarily in the manner that he'd been expecting. The _Minerva_ had just been preparing to fire its positron cannon, like he'd expected, when an unexpected attack from behind had destroyed the charging weapon. In a burst of blinding white light and afterimages, a Murasame-like mobile suit appeared and dropped out of the sky.

"_Sorry about that, __**Minerva**_," a voice called over an open radio channel as the mobile suit settled in to a hover off to the _Minerva_'s starboard flank. "_But you were about to incinerate quite a few of my __**friends**__ there!_"

As the _Minerva_ lost its stability and crashed into the water below, another warship arrived. This one was so familiar that every single person who saw it immediately recognized it: the _Archangel_ had arrived. A moment later, a second mobile suit was launched from the _Archangel_. This one was several shades of pink with an oriental crest of a lion and a rose painted on its left shoulder plate.

Neo couldn't help but growl slightly as a second voice identified itself as Orb's Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha and ordered the Orb forces to disengage from the battle immediately. Though he could commend the girl for _trying_, he couldn't allow the Orb forces to withdraw at this moment. So he began to playing with the seeds of manipulation he'd planted in the fool earlier. Clearly the man could tell this young woman was who she claimed be, it was obvious in his stuttering voice and hesitancy. After only a moment of hesitation, the entire Orb fleet launched a massive spray of missiles towards the antique Strike Rouge.

Rather than watch the outcome of the immediate crisis, Neo turned to his executive officer as he stood up. "Take over. I'm heading out there."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

As Tolle watched the incoming spray of missiles, he felt that eerily familiar sensation of something exploding in the back of his mind. With a sudden calmness washing over him, Tolle punched the power of the Voiture Lumiere as he dashed in front of Cagalli's Strike Rouge. Turning his back to the missiles, Tolle flared the Fortitude's engines as he grabbed the Strike Rouge. The flare of light not only blinded the eyes of the many people who were looking towards them, but it also caused the missiles' targeting computers to lose their target. With the Strike Rouge in tow, Tolle blasted them straight upwards in a considerable burst of speed.

Once he was sure that Cagalli was safely out of harm's way, he released her and swooped off to the side of the incoming missile barrage. Snatching his beam boomerangs, Tolle launched them sideways across the path of the missiles, destroying a good dozen or two as the _Archangel_ reacted by firing a series of interceptor missiles. The resulting explosions of the missiles looked remarkably similar to all the times that Tolle had seen Kira use the Freedom in Full-Burst Mode.

Catching the returning boomerangs easily, Tolle reclaimed his former position in front of the _Archangel_. "_Seiran, you bastard!_ I swear to all that's _holy and just_ that I'm going to _kick your ass_ the next time I see you! _What the hell was that?!_"

If he were paying attention, Tolle might've heard a few sniggers filtering through the radio as he ranted. After all, his dislike for the Seiran heir was a very well known fact among the Orb military. However, the fact that they knew without a doubt that that was indeed Tolle yelling at their Supreme Commander only heightened their confusion. Hadn't the Fortitude and _Archangel_ been the one to kidnap Lady Cagalli in the first place?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

As his GOUF Ignited shot through the air, Heine slashed his Tempest beam sword through one enemy mobile suit after another. Due to the flow of battle, the _Minerva_ was quickly retreating behind the small southern peninsula and that took the warship dangerously close to the awaiting ZGMF-X88S Gaia, which had left its carrier vessel behind in favor of following the battle.

Seeing the bright orange mobile suit flying close by, the Gaia had quickly opened fire on it. Reacting with the finely-honed reflexes and instincts of a veteran pilot, Heine had easily been able to evade the Gaia's shots. Though Heine was many things on the battlefield, never let it be said that he didn't enjoy a challenge. That was why he swooped around and lashed out with his Slayer Whip, the impact knocked the BuCUE-like Gundam off-balance as the electrical surge shocked the pilot inside. Quickly retracting the whip, he swung the GOUF around and lashed out with the other one, smacking the Gaia face-down in the dirt.

Most other pilots would've been quite incapacitated after those attacks, but whoever was in control of the black mobile suit truly was a stubborn one, Heine had to admire the person for that much at least. The Gaia had managed to jump a reasonable distance away after the electricity receded and brought up its beam rifle. However, Heine had already landed his GOUF and wrapped up the weapon before it could fire. The pilot seemed to realize what was going to happen mere moments beforehand and quickly released its hold of the rifle, barely having enough time to bring its compact shield forward to block the shrapnel as the rifle exploded.

"This is no ZAKU, pal," he said, grinning slightly in triumph. "No _ZAKU!!_"

In his brief moment of triumph, the Gaia was able to snatch out one of its beam sabers and lunged forward with surprising speed. He was just barely able to get his GOUF to duck under a slash meant for the cockpit. As he attempted to jump away and safely return to the sky above, the Gaia made a second vicious slash, impacting heavily enough against his shield to cause some chunks of it to be snapped off.

Okay, perhaps he and his GOUF were above and beyond an ordinary ZAKU, but so were the Gaia and its pilot. He could respect that, even if he didn't like it.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

Tolle was little more than a pattern of afterimages as he danced around the battlefield, disabling Murasames and Astrays, destroying Windams and Dagger Ls, and intercepting missiles that were heading for either the _Archangel_ or the _Minerva_. As the _Archangel_ continued to defend the _Minerva_ and warding off incoming ships, he turned his attention to the four Gundams that had been fighting one another.

The Abyss, the blue one in the water, was proving to be especially aggressive. And the fact that his Fortitude wasn't designed for underwater usage made it even more difficult for him to fight against it. Oh well, there was still the Impulse, the Chaos, and the red one to play with. He flew towards the Chaos and the red mobile suit, but the Impulse intercepted him with its beam rifle blazing.

"_Whose side are you __**on**__, Lieutenant?!_" a familiar angry voice demanded over the radio.

Glancing at his remaining energy reserve, Tolle let out a small growl of annoyance. The Voiture Lumiere was eating up his power at a _ridiculous_ rate, forcing him to quickly shut it off to better conserve the half of it that he still had left.

"Well, well!" he called over in a cheerful voice, easily breaking off from his intended targets to focus his attention on the Impulse. "If it isn't the Impulsive Grump! How ya' doing?" Rather than answer, Shinn let out an angry yell as he opened fire on the Fortitude.

Bringing his shield up to block the Impulse's shots, Tolle snatched one of his boomerangs and threw it off to the side. Grabbing a saber, he lunged towards the Impulse, catching Shinn slightly by surprise. It was this surprise that allowed Tolle to be able to hack the Impulse's entire right arm off as he shot past. It was also this surprise that made Shinn unable to notice or dodge the incoming boomerang until it was too late. The deadly weapon cut straight through the Force Silhouette on its back, critically damaging its two portside engines as it passed through them. Tolle easily caught the weapon as the Impulse plummeted towards the water, just barely being able to eject the wreckage on its backside before it exploded.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

Neo watched the battle between the _Archangel_'s Murasame unit and the Impulse with interest. Clearly that was no real Murasame mobile suit; its sheer and obvious combat potential was well beyond that of a normal Murasame. Perhaps it was that one unit that he'd heard was responsible for kidnapping the Orb's representative? What was its name again?

Shaking his head, he refocused his mind on the battle at hand. The _Minerva_ was nearly safely out of range and pursuing it was out of the question as long as the _Archangel_ was protecting it. Although he knew the _John Paul Jones_ was about to fire its return flares, there was one certain little girl that he needed to go safeguard in case she decided to disobey orders again.

So, with his new GAT-05 Rapier flying towards the cliffs to the starboard side, Neo focused his mind on the battle between the Gaia and that new orange unit that ZAFT had apparently delivered to the _Minerva_. It was proving to be a very formidable opponent, mowing down the various enemy mobile suits with a relative ease before engaging the Gaia. Was this one perhaps going to become a new mass production model for ZAFT? If so, then perhaps it was good thing that the Alliance was attempting to upgrade its own armaments.

Bringing his beam rifle forward, he fired a quick series of shots towards the orange mobile suit. Predictably, the suit danced clear as it turned to face him with an answering salvo. With a speed and grace that far outshone that of the Windam or Dagger mobile suits, Neo was easily able to dodge most of the shots, blocking those that he couldn't with his shield. Swinging around the suit and hovering protectively in front of the Gaia with its four wings spread, Neo called out, "You okay, Stellar?"

"_Neo!_" the blonde cried in relief and happiness at his arrival.

"Fall back to the ship, Stellar," he ordered as he closed the Rapier's wings in preparation for a lunge forward. "I'll deal with this guy." The girl was quick to obey his orders and retreated safely away.

The new ZAFT suit seemed to quickly realize just what was going to happen as it saw the Rapier close its wings. Therefore it was quite prepared when Neo began firing ruthlessly up towards it. Spinning around a short series of shots, the ZAFT machine lashed out with what looked to be a whip. Unprepared for the unorthodox weapon, Neo hadn't been able to dodge it or prevent it from wrapping around his beam rifle. Seeing the burst of electricity dancing down its length, he quickly released the rifle and brought his shield up as the electrical charge caused the deadly ammo to explode.

Growling in annoyance, Neo grabbed a beam saber as he dodged to the side, evading the salvo from the ZAFT machine's beam cannons that were built into its wrist. Changing his direction of travel immediately, he flew straight upwards as the Pollux IX railguns swung forward, quickly targeting the orange machine.

The shots went wide as the ZAFT pilot quickly dodged to the side before charging forward with its large anti-ship beam sword. Neo answered by bringing his shield up to bear and swung his own saber towards his enemy, causing both opponents to block the other's weapon on their shields. As they were breaking apart, the _John Paul Jones_ finally sent up its retreat flares, a signal that most combatants were quick to obey.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 3, 73CE  
Linz, Austria  
****10:36am**

"Why are we here?" Meer asked with her voice thick from various repressed emotions.

"The Earth Alliance has been unable to suppress the rebellions that have broken out in this region," Akira answered quietly as they walked down the streets of the large city of Linz, Austria. "The rebels have mostly been able to fight off the Alliance by themselves. However, I don't think the Alliance is quite ready to abandon this region just yet, especially not after what happened in the Middle East."

"So you're going to destroy the Alliance base here?" she asked, eyeing him carefully.

"No," he said easily. "At this point, it wouldn't matter if I did or not. The Alliance needs to make a move before I can."

Now she was confused. "Then why are we here?"

"For the time being, this is the safest place I can keep you," Akira answered absentminded as he turned down another random street. "I know some people here who will take good care of you."

Meer came to an instant halt, drawing Akira's attention. "No! I'm not staying here! I want to go home! To the PL—!" She was abruptly silenced by Akira's hand over her mouth.

"I said they would take care of you," There was a clear warning in his voice as he continued. "But they won't be able to protect you for very long if there's so much of a _hint_ that you're a you-know-what. Even though this region is fighting for independence, they still very much dislike people like us. _That's_ why I made you dye your hair the other day."

The former pink-haired imitation glared at him for the unpleasant reminder through her now black bangs. Indeed, Akira had bluntly and unrepentantly forced her to dye her beautiful pink locks to a more natural coloring. When the girl had predictably tried to resist, he had given her a choice: do it herself, or he'd knock her out and do it himself. Meer had been glaring and fighting with him for the past two days since.

"I am being quite serious when I say that your life hangs by a thread here," he warned before taking her wrist and leading her down the street like a parent pulling a misbehaving child. He blatantly ignored the small amounts of questioning stares they were receiving as he continued the conversation. "You might want to think up a name to use while you're here. I'm quite sure that if they suspected who you were supposed to be, you wouldn't live very long."

Yanking her arm free, she snapped out, "If it's so dangerous, why are you leaving me here?"

"…Think of this as a chance of getting to know how the other side thinks and feels about this war," he answered easily. "We're here."

He finally came to a stop in front of a small diner called '_Großmutter_ _K's Café_.' It had a small, old-world homey environment about it. And though there didn't seem to be a lot of customers sitting in the small patio area or inside, there were several delicious scents wafting out through the door as they entered.

"Akira!" a voice cried as soon as they entered. Meer barely had time to register the speaker's presence when there came a resounding slap.

"What was that for?!" Akira demanded, rubbing the red hand imprint that was rapidly appearing on his cheek.

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been?!" the woman demanded in a tone of voice that could've had even the hardiest and most rebellious of teenagers cowering in fear. "How on _Earth_ or _space_ did you ever become so _reckless?!_"

Against her will, Meer began giggle at the sight that lay before her. Here was Akira Iyadomi, her captor and the feared pilot of the infamous Neo Freedom, was being lectured by a rather unremarkable woman in a cooking apron like a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar by his mother. The honey-brown haired woman was somewhat shorter and petite when compared to the false-blond in front of her. However, with her current expression, her fierce presence seemed to cause the illusion that she was much taller than the boy.

"Well, I—"

"And what's this I heard about you kidnapping Ms Clyne?!" the woman continued to rant, not seeming to notice Meer's sudden hopeful expression. "Do you have any idea just how stupid that was?!"

"Yes," he said simply, completely unrepentant. "But I had to do it, so I did."

Scowling, the woman's hand lashed out and latched tightly upon Akira's ear. Marching imperiously towards the backroom with the whimpering boy in her grasp, the woman barked, "That's what I figured, young man! Now you get back there and do those dishes or I'll sic Xavier on you!"

As Akira disappeared through the small doorway, the woman finally turned her dark gaze upon Meer's amused and slightly hopeful face. Finally unable to resist, Meer asked, "Are you his mother, madam?"

Chuckling at the irony, the woman shook her head. "Goodness, no. But someone needs to rein his idealistic impulsiveness from time to time. Now, what to do with you…?"

"Could I trouble you for a shower?" Meer asked. She hadn't had a chance to bathe since Akira had kidnapped her due in part because Akira kept hiding them in the wilderness, which was in the grips of winter. And the fact that Akira couldn't risk her drawing too much attention if he took her into town, the most she'd been able to do was wash her hair in a stream that hadn't yet frozen.

"Akira's still playing 'rebellious guerilla'?" the woman asked with a knowing air about her. Sighing slightly, she turned and beckoned Meer towards her as she headed for the same doorway. "Can't be helped I guess. Though leave it to a man to not know how to treat a woman, especially one from high society like yourself!"

"Um, who are you, madam?" Meer asked, completely unable to keep the appreciative smile off her face. She was beginning to really like this lady.

"Oh, how rude!" the woman uttered as though finally remembering her manners. "My name is Oria Falacci. Now what should we call you, my dear?"

Meer couldn't help but pause to gawk slightly at the lady. Did she agree with Akira that she wasn't the real Lacus despite chewing him out for kidnapping her?!

As though reading her mind, Oria smiled slightly as she ushered the younger woman through the small kitchen and up a set of stairs. "I don't know why he did it, but as long as you're here, we can't call you by your real name. It's too dangerous for you. So what name do you want to use instead?"

"…Meer," she whispered, feeling a strange compulsion to agree with the lady. "Meer…Campbell."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 4, 73CE  
Mathilde Colony  
****7:56pm**

Captain Jonas Brimfield watched silently as the technicians and engineers scrambled about through the hangar. There was a certain air of excitement covering the atmosphere, despite there being no oxygen in the vacuum of the hangar. And why shouldn't they be excited? They'd been working on these three projects for the better part of a year. With the _Early Harvest_'s return, they finally had the necessary materials to finish their work.

And just in time apparently. The various pirating factions and guilds were really starting to become tenacious in their attempts and attacks. Already Brimfield had lost count of how many times he and his crew had to scramble in order to protect their cherished oasis from attacking rivals and enemies. Though the _Early Harvest_ had never been one to make waves needlessly, it was still considered a very powerful ship with an enormous supply of mobile suits at its beck and call. Their rivals had always coveted it and the asteroid factory especially. That wasn't the worst part though.

Brimfield had this unwavering suspicion that something was wrong. After all, he knew that many of the pirate groups who'd recently attacked the Mathilde Colony and the _Early Harvest_ were those who used those antique O'Neil colonies as sanctuaries and supply depots. What little information he could pry from the various pirate captains had all been the same: they'd been run off from their hideouts by the Earth Alliance suddenly coming in and taking over. That was the reason for the sudden rise in pirate attacks; they were searching for a new place to call home.

"They're nearly finished, sir," Lieutenant Ken Ohajin said as he walked into the observatory room and stared down at the nearly-complete projects.

"I know," he said calmly as Professor K began the preliminary power up and assessment. "Lieutenants Bertelsen and Siemer were also able to acquire seven spare missiles in case we need spare parts or to start new projects."

"Captain, have you selected the pilots for those new machines yet?" Ohajin asked curiously. "We must have over three dozen available candidates, ready and willing, to pilot those things."

"…Yes," he answered, his gaze not leaving the gray machines below. "It's such a shame that Akira hadn't stayed, I would've quite appreciated his opinion of these three…Maybe even have given one to him."

Before Ohajin could press his Captain for an answer to his question, there can a small purple flash from the hangar. Focusing their attentions, the pair of commanding officers watched as the X1's purple eyes glowed brightly with power and life as its gray coloring changed to faded orange and white. Then there came two more small flashes, green and yellow, from the other two machines that were too coming to life for the first time. But where X2 took on the _Early Harvest_'s faded orange and white color scheme, X3 shone with a proud yellow and faded orange.

"They truly do look very impressive, don't they?" Brimfield asked quietly. "Especially for mobile suits designed by, built for, and soon to be piloted by pirates." Glancing over at his second in command, Brimfield said, "Please inform Lieutenants Dalen Bertelsen, Henry Siemer, and Charles Goldsboro that their new machines are ready."

"You're giving one of those to Goldie?" Ohajin asked, blinking in surprise. "Are you sure that's a wise decision, Captain?"

"Goldie may be a tad eccentric at times," Brimfield acknowledged thoughtfully. "But that is why he will make an exceptional pilot for the X3."

Saluting, Ohajin said, "As you wish, Captain."

As the younger man left the room to carry out the order, Brimfield turned his attention back to the slowly rising mobile suits with an unhappy frown on his face. Though these three had merely been built to give them a necessary edge over their competitors, he had a sad feeling that they were destined to see far more combat than he was really willing to involve them in. Hopefully, Professor K had finally managed to outdo herself in regards to their designs and expected performance capabilities.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 6, 73 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**  
11:01pm**

The last twenty-four hours had been a day filled with revelations, discoveries, and horror. Oh yes, December 6 would be a day that Lunamaria would remember for the rest of her life. Sure, the day started out simple enough.

But then the Captain called her in for a secret mission: spy on Athrun and his meeting with those of the _Archangel_. The Captain wanted to find out more about the motivations of the _Archangel_. Luna also suspected that she wanted to learn some information that Athrun might not have been willing to share. As an agent of FAITH, it was well within Gladys' capabilities to issue such an order. So, despite the moral qualms about spying on her combat commander and the man she very much respected, Luna did as ordered.

For the better part of the day, there wasn't much action, although she did secretly enjoy watching Athrun go about his business as he waited for them to contact him. But when they did, Luna had almost lost Athrun's trail when he took the Savior off to the established meeting point with the Fortitude. If that meeting had taken place any farther away from the city, she had no doubt that she would have lost him or arrived too late to carry out the mission.

But as it was, she did miss the beginning of the conversation because she had to land her borrowed helicopter a safe distance away and then she had hurriedly set up her equipment to listen in on the conversation. Ironically, the conversation between Representative Cagalli, Lieutenant Koenig, Athrun, and some other girl was really starting to pick up when she could finally listen in. Athrun was trying to talk them into returning to Orb so they could stop the nation from further participating in the war and he was trying to get them to stop interfering in battles. But it seemed clear to Luna that he didn't get his point across to them.

But it was when Lieutenant Tolle had asked a certain question about Lacus did Luna really start to pay attention in her confusion. A squad of Coordinators had shown up in Orb in an attempt to assassinate Lacus Clyne? Apparently the attempt had been unsuccessful thanks to the timely arrival of the Neo Freedom which had just broken out of Morgenroete mere minutes beforehand. What was the Lieutenant talking about? Wasn't Lacus Clyne up in the PLANTs at that point trying to help calm everyone down with the Chairman? She knew that Tolle was many contradicting things due to his semi-split personality, but he was most certainly _wasn't_ crazy. And the fact that Athrun said nothing to disagree about the possibility of Lacus being in Orb quickly caused Luna to have a revelation: the Lacus Clyne who'd been kidnapped a short while ago was a _double!_ Apparently the revelation about the assassination attempt had shocked Athrun as well, and he promised to look into it.

As the meeting began to wrap up, Luna couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to be seeing the Orb Gundam and the _Archangel_ again in the near-future.

When she returned to the harbor where the _Minerva_ had been docked, she found it missing. It had taken some questioning of the harbor to learn of the general direction of where the warship had been heading towards and why. It was well into the night and Luna's helicopter had started getting low on fuel when she finally located the ship and the abandoned Earth Alliance base that it had landed next to. The place looks like just a bunch of ruins from the outside, camouflage she was sure, so that no one would know that it was a secret research facility where illegal experiments are being conducted) However, Luna's timing couldn't have been any worse because she arrived just as the stolen Gaia had coming charging forward and engaged in battle with Shinn and Athrun. Between the two of them, they had finally managed to takedown the pain in the ass Gundam. That was when Shinn had started acting weird; he took the pilot, a blonde girl, into the _Minerva_ Medical for immediate treatment. It was discovered shortly afterwards that the girl was one of the drug-enhanced humans called Extended Humans that the Naturals had created in their efforts to produce soldiers who could compete on the same levels of Coordinators.

Once the drama of that little fiasco had died down and Luna was able to properly change back into her normal uniform, she had finally been able to deliver her report to Captain Gladys. And as much as Luna wanted to obey the Captain's recommendation about forgetting everything she saw and heard while on her mission, she knew couldn't. For one simple fact: she now knew that the Neo Freedom's pilot, for whatever his reasons were, had kidnapped the wrong person! And the sad fact was because this was a top-secret mission, Luna couldn't talk to Athrun about it either.

This left Luna with little other choice than to just think about it and form her own conclusions. And she certainly had a lot to think about.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 9, 73 CE  
ZAFT Gibraltar Base  
****11:25am**

As the Desert Tiger, Andy Waltfeld was renowned for being a fierce commander and an even fiercer mobile suit pilot. He had done many brutal and sometimes questionable acts during the previous war, but he was never overly savage or bloodthirsty. He just did what needed to be done in order to complete his objectives, even if some of his schemes could be considered less than sane at times. However, stealing a space shuttle from a ZAFT military installation with the intention to rendezvous with the hidden warship _Eternal_, and Terminal was probably one of the craziest operations that he'd ever been a part of!

Despite himself, Andy found himself feeling slightly annoyed with Kira. The boy had indirectly and completely unknowingly ruined what was probably their best plan to steal a shuttle by impersonating the imposter-Lacus. Then again, maybe it was for the best that it happened like this.

The one-eyed war veteran and his pink-haired accomplice were currently in disguise. Andy wore a standard ZAFT green uniform with a black-haired wig and sunglasses to hide his scarred eye. Lacus wore a similar uniform, but her hair had been pulled into a tight bun on top of her head and was mostly hidden under the hat she wore. With a slight touch a make-up and eye-liner, something she never really used before, Lacus really did look like a different person altogether.

Andy couldn't help but snort in contempt as they bypassed the ZAFT security so easily. As a former commander, Andy was intimately familiar with ZAFT customs and courtesies, security and detainment procedures. Perhaps it was this knowledge that allowed him and Lacus to be able to sneak through the spaceport, but it was still almost _pathetically_ easy to the man. The ease of which he and Lacus had managed to present false identification and security codes was just _too simple_. Easy enough to set the man on edge very quickly. Something was going to go wrong, he just knew it!

But he suppressed his fears and focused on the job at hand. He and Lacus were making their way down the entry ramp to the shuttle and he needed to focus. Upon entering the shuttle itself, Andy went straight for the cockpit with Lacus making sure to lock the cockpit doorway securely. This shuttle wasn't scheduled for takeoff for another half hour and it was one of the commercial passenger ones.

Knocking out the two pilots proved to be a matter of simplicity since they were far from prepared. After tying and gagging the pair up tightly, Andy easily was able to impersonate them to the crew and passengers as he prepared to launch the shuttle. Good, so far everything was working more or less how he'd hoped it would.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**Aprillis City, PLANTs  
****7:56pm**

Chairman Gilbert Durandal gently moved the white queen from her position which was safely beside her faithful knight to a new position three squares diagonally. Where she had formerly been safely protected by others of her kind, her new location was surrounded by a pair of enemy pawns and his deadly bishop.

As he gazed across the board that was his game of domination, he couldn't help but frown at the sight of the pieces that lay before him. The white queen, Lacus Clyne's avatar, had just made a bold move. And he knew it was her as well. It was a bold move to take their most powerful ally and send her off by herself with little apparent protection. However, with the layout of the board, that was an easily rectified problem for her since either a knight, two pawns, or a rook could come to her aid within only a turn or two. Yet most of the other pieces on her side were scattered or lost already. All that she had left was the king, a single rook and bishop, four pawns, and her pair of knights.

And while the king, representing the Orb Union, was currently alone and defenseless, he was still a safe distance away from any attackers who'd dare target him. The rook, the _Archangel_, and a knight, the Fortitude Gundam, had been working closely to support and protect both the king and queen, yet both were currently left out in the open with only each other for protection. In contrast, one white bishop (Logos) and three pawns were working intimately close in their attempts to defeat the stronger pieces on Durandal's side, namely his black queen, the _Minerva_, and both of his dark knights. However, each attempt had ended in defeat. This strategy among the remaining pieces that had allied themselves with that Logos bishop had thus far resulted in their near-defeat by Durandal's forces. And this entire engagement was proving to be playing nicely into Durandal's hands.

Yet, at the same time, the last remaining piece on the white's side was proving to be the most difficult to predict or defeat. This last piece, the second white knight representing the Neo Freedom and Akira Iyadomi, had already defeated one of his dark bishops, Meer Campbell, interfered with his earlier strategy of destroying the white queen, and was even now disrupting various schemes among not only his pieces but those of the white side as well.

Though at the moment, the knight was silent and unmoving despite being easily targeted by several of Durandal's remaining pawns. But the sad part was that even Durandal wasn't quite sure which side this powerful knight wanted to win this war, or whose side he was ultimately on. But as annoying as that piece was, he couldn't attack it yet. It was too evasive and elusive. He needed to somehow draw it out with a considerable number of his best pieces ready to destroy it if and when it made its appearance.

As he was looking over the board again, Durandal noticed that at some point in his game a single pawn of his had worked itself over towards the opponent's side of the board. Which piece was that again? Oh yes, now he remembered. It was the pawn he'd sent to aid his queen in the recent battle against the Logos bishop's rook, the Orb Union's fleet. That pawn had been an expendable piece, but somehow it had survived the initial fight. As he stared at the piece, he felt a small smile grace his face. Yes, if it could outlast the Logos bishop's next assault on the queen, then perhaps he should award it with a power-up.

As that thought passed through his mind, Durandal absentmindedly moved his queen into the necessary place for a follow-up attack by the Logos bishop. With his piece moved, Durandal stood and moved over to his desk and computer. If he was going to increase that pawn to a more useful piece, he needed to enlist specific individuals to determine the appropriate amount of usefulness that he could transfer to that piece.

Pulling up the Experimental Weaponry Research Division, he sent a request that they begin designing a third high-performance Gundam to accompany the prior two he'd already requested. Though he didn't have a specific use for this new suit just yet, there was still plenty of time and pieces remaining for it to still be of considerable importance if necessary.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 10, 73CE  
Athina, Greece  
****4:50pm**

He was sitting outside a small diner, sipping a cup of coffee absentmindedly. He had a small laptop resting on the table in front of him which he was reviewing with what could almost be called boredom. At first glance you'd think he was just a common tourist who was taking a small break after a seeing the sights. At least that was display that her old boyfriend was putting on when she walked up and slipped gracefully into the chair across from him.

"You wanted to see me?" Tolle asked, his gaze not leaving the laptop in front of him.

"That's it?" she asked a little snappishly. "No 'hi, how are you, Mir?' or 'what've you been up to lately?' Just straight to business?"

Glancing up at Miriallia, Tolle sighed and nodded his head slightly in apology. "Sorry, I've just been a little busy with this research on this new Alliance mobile suit I saw the other day."

Miriallia barely resisted the urge to snort. Tolle obsessed with enemy mobile suits? How perfectly predictable! For just a moment, she couldn't help but miss the person he had used to be before that fateful encounter in his Skygrasper two years ago. How could he have changed so much in so short a time? But then again, perhaps her Tolle did die in that explosion, and this stranger with ugly burn scars along the back of his neck and shoulders was just his walking corpse?

"I wanted you to bring me to the angel," she said quietly. Her statement earned his full attention immediately. "I was there at Dardanelles when it began. I saw what happened there and I want to help out in any way I can. As I am now, I can't do anything useful. And I figured that I could be of better help to the angel than to my camera."

Tolle silently stared at her with intense interest, a gaze that she easily met and held unwaveringly. After a moment, he returned his attention to his laptop and began typing rapidly onto it. With a short pause, he turned back to her and gave a slight smile to his old friend. "It looks like you'll be welcomed with open arms, Mir. I just hope you've got a change of clothes because all we've got onboard are uniforms and flight suits."

Nodding slightly with a knowing smile on her face, she said, "Don't worry about me, buddy. I'm always ready to rough it up when the going gets tough."

Finishing his coffee and shutting down his computer, Tolle stood and hurriedly paid the bill before guiding the photographer through the city towards where he'd hidden his Gundam for this meeting.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**December 11, 73CE  
Linz, Austria  
****10:12pm**

He had been in front of his computer for hours, diligently typing away as he shot through one firewall after another, evading one security system after another. But so far, it had all been for naught because none of the databases he'd managed to hack contained any information on the data he desired.

Sighing in annoyance, Akira turned felt his gaze irresistibly travel up towards the new waitress for the Großmutter K's Café. Though when they were in private she insisted her name was Lacus Clyne, the girl had taken the name of Meer Campbell rather quickly after she'd arrived at this small café. Because of that, along with his suspicions, Akira had taken to calling her that every time he saw, spoke, or referred to her. Yet it wasn't necessarily out of a feeling of maliciousness towards her for the role she had been playing, but more for his own sanity.

Even now as he stared at her, watching her awkwardly balance a tray of food for her late-night customers, he felt that small and annoying jab of pain in the back of his head. Every time he gave into either the pain or his curiosity, Akira always saw an image of a pink-haired girl going through the same or similar motions that Meer was usually doing. That included even this moment, he could only watch in confusion and pain as Meer was overlapped slightly by the pink-haired beauty carrying a small tray of tea and biscuits towards him. But what was really confusing him was how he kept remembering this same girl, who looked remarkably like Miss Lacus, when it was only their faces that looked anything alike, mostly due to Akira making Meer dye her hair.

He felt the small image of the girl carrying her tray towards him rewind itself in his mind, Akira's fingers automatically sought out the silver ring that hung concealed under his clothes. Lovingly clenching and caressing it, Akira didn't even realize that his staring had been noticed due to how deep he was in his confusion. It wasn't until Meer sent him a fierce glare that he managed to separate his mind from his fuzzy memories and returned to the present.

Glancing back to his trusty laptop, Akira gave a weak glare at the useless information that was clouding up the monitor. He wasn't interested in the estimated performance capabilities of the new GAT-05 Rapier, though they would certainly come in handy in the near-future. He didn't care about the rumors of it being designed after his Neo Freedom. And he certainly didn't care to know that only the elite of the Earth Alliance would be given them to use. What he wanted to know was where they were produced, how many there were completed and estimated numbers for construction, and (most importantly) if there were any future or secret plans of producing new, special model prototypes.

"Glaring at the screen isn't going to make the answers appear, boy," a deep voice said from nearby. "Get up and stretch or I'll have you do the dishes again!"

Looking up, Akira spotted the short but stout cook of the Großmutter K's Café, Xavier Falacci. Though the man was clearly still in his prime, he already had a fast-receding hairline which seemed to make his forehead even more prominent than it had already been. Indeed, the last time Akira had seen the man several months ago, he could've sworn Xavier had lost a full inch worth of hair since. And though most people would be a little mistrustful of him based on his ungainly appearance, especially when he was in a less than pleased mood, never had there been a more honest or polite person around.

"You'd have had me do the dishes anyway," Akira grumbled sulkily. "But I really _have_ to figure this out. I've tried everything I could think of and _still_ there's nothing to be found."

"Well, since you already know what's expected of you: get moving boy!" Xavier barked in what he likely felt was a military fashion as he reached forward and closed the laptop. "We may put up with you, but that doesn't mean you can freeload while you're here!"

"What about Meer?" Akira asked, even as Xavier pulled him to his feet and shoved him towards the backroom. "She's probably been a bigger help to you than I ever will be! Correct me if I'm wrong, but since you 'hired' her, you've been getting a lot more customers around meal times."

"That point is irrelevant, boy!" Xavier growled as he finally shoved Akira up to his patented duty station at the sink with its heaps of dirty dishes waiting. "What is relevant is the fact that you're not doing anything to earn your keep around here! Now get to it."

Meer, who'd been discreetly watching the entire scene, couldn't help but giggle slightly at Akira's disgusted expression. No matter how many times she'd seen this happen in the past week since she'd been here, it never failed to surprise or amuse her that the Gundam pilot could or would allow himself to be pushed around by a pair of mere cooks who weren't anything more than ordinary.

Realizing just what she was doing, Meer quickly turned away with a fierce frown on her pretty face. How could she, even for a moment, think of her captor in anything less than disgust for his kidnapping of her?!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**20 miles east of Timisoara, Romania  
same time**

In their trek across the southeastern European lands, the _Alhazen_ had chanced upon this site. The gentle hills and bluffs of the area were very docile in appearance, very peaceful. However, perhaps that was why the Alliance had chosen this site as the location. Colonel Hisashi silently studied the image of the large factory on the monitor in front of him. Though he knew he shouldn't be surprised, he couldn't help but be anyway.

With the region's high amount of rebel activity, as well as how close the new ZAFT port of Diocuia was, for the Alliance to choose to make a factory here seemed very foolish indeed. However, this factory seemed to be one of the more heavily guarded and important ones. And what was the reason for this? This apparently was one of the ones that produced the new mobile suits that had appeared in the battle a week ago against the _Minerva_.

"What should we do, Colonel?" Deputy Captain Mutomura asked seriously. "We can't afford to allow the Alliance to make any more of those new suits. That one fought on par with our new GOUF Ignited!"

"I am aware of that, Mutomura," he said neutrally. "However, we do not have the fighting strength necessary to take down a factory this heavily fortified." Yes, this factory was without a doubt extremely heavily guarded by six of the Alliance new mobile armors, almost twenty of their new mobile suits, and no less than thirty Windams. If he and his team of one _Lesseps_-class land battleship and ten ZAKUs went in there, it would be a slaughter for the ZAFT forces. They needed to call for reinforcements or to acquire a mobile suit with some serious firepower to do this job safely.

As that thought went through his mind, something clicked. Hirai let a small smile grace his expression as a quiet chuckle escaped his control. Turning back to his communications officer, he said, "Contact Diocuia. Tell them of what we've found here and that we will soon be engaging the Neo Freedom."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"Sir?" Jasmine asked, looking up at her superior questioningly.

"Get online," he said with his small smile remaining on his face. "Start spreading rumors about this new factory and what it's building. This is a target that is too dangerous to be left untouched. The Neo Freedom will come to do whatever damage he can to it. All we have to do is wait until that time."

"I see," she agreed easily. "Maybe we could even help him in destroying the factory when he first arrives, get him to drop his guard?"

Considering the idea, Hirai nodded slightly. "I'll consider the option, Mutomura. Not hop to it! We've got an ambush to set up."

* * *

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE) **Whoo! That was one whopper of a chapter! So much stuff taking place, blame canon for that! Although, if I hadn't come to my senses, there would've been a LOT MORE to happen before the chapter ended. I had originally intended to write in the Battle of Crete and maybe even the beginning of the ambush before I ended. Thank goodness I didn't!

Big time shout-out to **animefan29** for his patience with me for this chapter! I must've sent it to him three separate times to ask his opinion on it before now. Oh, and to answer your question, **animefan29**, I don't necessarily believe that having a semi-split personality could be considered 'crazy' by itself. It all depends on how the person affected interacts with others and how s/he handles certain situations that would warrant being called _crazy_.

Großmutter - grandmother (in German)


	15. Symphony of Rage

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 15: Symphony of Rage_

**December 12, 73CE  
Crete Island  
****9:23am**

Shinn let out a feral growl as he pushed his Blast Impulse in a rapid dodge to the side. Not a second later, the Abyss launched a salvo of beams at his evasive form. Though none of the shots connected, more than a few of them were a bit too close for his liking. Swinging the Impulse around, he answered the Abyss' attack by blasting his Kerberos heavy beam cannons. The Abyss quickly shifted into its submersible mobile armor form as it reached the zenith of its jump out of the water, which also allowed it to dodge the Kerberos cannons. With not even a scratch on it, the blue mobile suit dove back under the water. Not willing to let the stolen Gundam escape unscathed, Shinn fired the Deluge rail cannons to where he guessed the Abyss was as it once again disappeared under the waves. But his shots went wide as Auel easily evaded them.

Meanwhile, in the skies above, the Savior and the Chaos were once again blasting at each other. Bringing his shield up, Athrun blocked the Chaos' shots as he shifted to the side and shot back, missing as the Chaos predictably dodged. Athrun was really starting to think that the pilot of the Chaos had taken up a personal vendetta against him because it always seemed to seek him out on the battlefield.

Swarms of Orb and Alliance mobile suits were attacking the _Minerva_ in such a ferocious manner that it far outshone the previous battle. And while the CIWS were admirably able to hold off the mobile suits from coming too close, the Dispar interceptor missiles weren't quite able to stop all the mobile suit and battleship missiles from hitting. The damage of those missiles, along with the fragmentation shells that the Orb fleet had launched at the start of the battle, was quickly beginning to take its toll.

With the _Minerva_'s resident aces keeping the stolen Gundams busy, Heine, in his GOUF, was able to freely attack the rest of the attacking fleet. His Tempest beam sword and Slayer Whips lashed out with deadly accuracy, and his wrist-mounted Draupnir beam cannons' aim was nothing short of lethal. And even though Rey and Lunamaria did their best to defend the _Minerva_, the sheer numbers were overwhelming them as well. Rey had already received substantial damage to his ZAKU Phantom's left arm and shield.

Only when a Murasame unit had finally managed to bypass Heine and the CIWS and came to a hover in front of the lowered bridge of the _Minerva_ did things once again start spiraling out of control. Just the Murasame was about to fire upon the bridge, a beam shot forth and destroyed its rifle. Several more decisive shots were rapidly fired, disabling the units that were about to land deadly attacks on the ZAFT warship. A split second later, a blinding flare of white light and afterimages zipped forth and circled the _Minerva_, disabling all enemy units that were within its range.

When the light died down, there floated the familiar form of the Fortitude Gundam in front of the fast approaching _Archangel_. Like the previous time, a pink-tinted antique Strike launched out of the _Archangel_'s catapult and came into a hover slightly in front of the Fortitude. And, like last time, Cagalli called for an immediate order for the Orb forces to withdraw and retreat from the battle, claiming that it went against the ideals of the nation fight in battles like this.

However, at the mere mention of the word 'ideals,' Cagalli had unintentionally triggered Shinn's enormous reservoir of loathing he kept stored with the special purpose of hating Orb and the entire Athha family. Thus he quickly spun his Gundam around and launched a barrage of Firefly guided missiles at the pink Strike Rouge, all the while screaming, "_**EXCUSES!!**_"

As Tolle protected Cagalli by mowing down the missiles with a spray of Vulcan guns, the battle renewed itself in earnest. Rushing forward, Tolle snatched a beam saber and attempted to once again take the Impulse out of the battle. However, in his rage, Shinn had triggered his own recently discovered 'battle calm.' With his heightened reflexes, he was easily able to dodge the initial slash and return the favor with his Defiant beam lance, forcing the scarred Lieutenant to instantly retreat. The slash was so close that the beam energy actually scratched a noticeable line across the cockpit hatch.

"_Tolle, __**stop it!**_" Athrun yelled as he flew the Savior in between the two, firing several warning shots. "_I told you to go back to Orb!_"

"And I told you why we _won't!_" Tolle yelled back angrily. He transformed his Gundam into a plane and flew off towards another portion of the battlefield to play interference, with Athrun hot on his afterburners. Shinn only had enough time to glance up towards where the two former allies were heading before an alarm alerted him to the Abyss' resurface. The pilot of that suit was clearly tired of being ignored.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

A spray of rapid-fire beams shot past Tolle's cockpit as he pushed his machine into a complex series of rolls and turns meant to lose his pursuer. However, Athrun was determined and more than capable of following the younger ace's moves with relative ease. The fact that Tolle couldn't use the Voiture Lumiere while in plane mode also helped him greatly.

"_Stop it, Athrun!_" Tolle yelled over the radio. He quickly changed back into a mobile suit, spun around, and charged for the Savior-plane. "Don't make me shoot you down too!" The Savior quickly and easily swung to the side, evading a collision with Tolle. But that was exactly what the scarred Lieutenant wanted and he instantly exploited the advantage by shifting back into his plane form and flying off in the opposite direction away from the Savior before Athrun could properly react. "I've got a job to do and you're really starting to get annoying!"

"_If you really want Orb to keep out of the battles, you should've done what I told you!_" Athrun growled as he rapidly closed back in on the Fortitude. Though the Orb Gundam was indeed a very impressive model, it was still essentially an upgraded Murasame; his Savior was easily able to pursue it.

"And I already told you that we can't go back until we know which side we should be fighting, if at all!" Tolle snapped, trying to concentrate on destroying a series of Windams and Dagger Ls as he swooped past them. He was able to blow the head off one, shredded the cockpit of another, and destroyed the Jet Striker of the third. He missed the fourth altogether.

"_Hey, hey!_" a third voice yelled over the radio. "_Did you forget somebody?!_" The green Chaos floated in front of the Fortitude and Savior, firing at the duo as they neared it. The two plane-like Gundams immediately evaded the shots as they swept past the green machine. "_I'm gonna blow you to pieces!_"

As he turned his machine to follow the two, Sting found himself face-to-face with both of them, beam sabers glowing dangerously. Even as an Extended, the green-haired teen didn't have time to react before the Savior and Fortitude each delivered a decisive slash. Both of his weapon pods were destroyed and the Chaos' arms were severed completely. With the loss of its weapon pods, which also acted as extra thrusters to maintain flight, the Chaos plummeted like a rock into the sea below.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

The warning came almost too late. Dodging to the side with enough force to jostle even a Coordinator, Heine spotted something that made his stomach turn unpleasantly in remembrance. Flying towards him were four of those Alliance mobile suits; the Rapier? Remembering his earlier fight with the violet and lime-green one, he felt his dread rise drastically. If the pilots of those machines were even half as good as that one from the previous battle, there was a very good chance that he wouldn't survive! And to make matters worse, this time the four suits looked like they were equipped with Striker packs, namely the Sword and Launcher.

"Captain," he called over the radio. "We've got four incoming Rapiers, two of which have the Launcher Striker and two with the Sword Striker!"

"_Shoot them down if you can_," Gladys ordered immediately. "_We can't let them get a direct hit on us or we're finished!_"

"Roger that," he acknowledged, forcing his fears aside to focus on the mission. Punching his GOUF forward on a direct interception course, he left the swarms of enemy mobile suits behind for Luna and Rey to fend off.

As he neared the quartet, he raised his arm and blasted his Draupnir cannons at the Launcher Rapiers. However, the pair of Sword Rapiers swung around and attempted to block his salvo with their small shields. This wasn't entirely successful; one of them lost a head piece and its shield arm. The second Sword Rapier dodged to the side as it lunged for him, bringing its beam sword to bear. The Launcher Rapiers merely continued on their earlier flight towards the _Minerva_.

Lashing out with a Slayer Whip, Heine was able to smash the crippled Sword Rapier's cockpit, which caused it to explode an instant later. As he was doing this, the other Sword Rapier dropped out of the sky and attempted to slice him in half. Blocking the slash with his Tempest sword, he deflected the deadly sword to the side. Angling his other arm, he fired the Draupnir at near pointblank range into the cockpit, riddling the torso with holes. Knocking the soon-to-be destroyed unit aside, he blasted his GOUF after the still-charging Launcher Rapiers.

Damn, they were almost within range of the _Minerva!_ Without getting a proper lock, he blasted his Draupnir towards them in an attempt to distract them. Apparently it worked, as one of them spun around and returned fire with its right-shoulder Vulcan cannons. Managing to dance out of the way, he continued to fire at the mobile suit. The pilot seemed to realize the futility of using the Vulcan and switched to the Agni hyper-impulse cannon. Even with the split-second warning, Heine was barely able to dodge under the massive wave of energy in time. Using the energy to hide his trail, he boosted his GOUF's engines and rocketed forward. The Launcher Rapier didn't stand a chance of dodging and was cleanly sliced in half.

"Heh, these guys aren't that tough," Heine muttered, grinning slightly.

Before he could turn his attention to the remaining Rapier, a shower of Vulcan fire erupted from behind him. It came close enough to his GOUF to actually scratch the paint as he hurriedly shifted to the side and faced his new opponent. As he was turning to face his enemy, a powerful wave of energy shot forth and smashed into his shield. Though the energy was safely blocked, the sheer force of impact knocked his GOUF back several meters before he could regain control. Finally locating his enemy, Heine quickly raised his Tempest sword to block the slash of the descending enemy mobile suit. As the two of them struggled against the other for a moment, he was finally able to see who he was fighting. It was that familiar violet and lime-green Rapier from before, also equipped with a Launcher Striker.

"_You should pay more attention to the battlefield around you_," a deceptively calm voice said over the radio as the Launcher Rapier backed off and sheathed its beam saber.

Heine was momentarily torn between engaging this Rapier in combat again and rushing after the last Launcher Rapier that had slipped past him. However, before he could even make a choice, an explosion tore through the air nearby. Glancing ever so slightly to the side, he spotted the debris that was once the Launcher Rapier he'd been pursuing falling from the sky as a triumphant feminine cheer sounded over his radio. Apparently Lunamaria had gotten the last one. Good for her.

Despite himself, Neo was in a very unhappy mood. They'd lost Auel; the combinable Gundam had speared him straight through the gut. Auel, like Stellar, had been a very likeable and friendly person despite being considered a mere tool by the military. Neo had easily been able to grow attached to the boy, even with his occasional reckless behavior. So, in a sense, Neo was out here to not only fill in for the boy but to also blow off some steam after his death.

"I'll keep that mind," Heine responded as he turned his full attention back to the Rapier in front of him quickly. He was trying to keep his voice in a similar tone as the man approaching him. "However, if you wanted a rematch, you merely had to ask."

"_I see, so then please forgive my rude behavior_," the pilot said as he opened visual communications with Heine. The pair eyed one another as the Launcher Rapier came to a halt in front of GOUF, safely out of range of the Slayer Whip. "_I am Captain Neo Roanoke, commander of the 81__st__ Autonomous Mobile Group_."

"I am Commander Heine Westenfluss, member of ZAFT Special Forces: FAITH," Heine answered easily. Not another word was spoken as they began their rematch.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

"Why won't you listen to me, Tolle?!" Athrun demanded angrily as he once again tried to clip the Fortitude's wings. He knew that Tolle was a skillful pilot for being a mere Natural, but when did he get so good at evasion? "Don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you? As long as Orb is a part of the Alliance, I will have no choice but to consider them as enemies and to fight them. If you want to stop that, then go back and have Cagalli get the nation out of that treaty! The Earth Forces set this whole thing up! Are you saying you want them to destroy the _Minerva_?!"

"_You just don't get it, do you?!_" Tolle yelled, anger practically palpable in his voice. The Fortitude finally stopped flying away, transforming back into its mobile suit form as Tolle opened visual communications. Athrun quickly followed the maneuver and stared at his companion's image, which was twisted up in a furious scowl. Turning to the side, Tolle hit some buttons and a new image appeared on Athrun's other monitor. An image of Cagalli, dressed in her pink flight suit, was shown to be mutely yelling and screaming for her nation's forces to stop fighting. Streaking down her eyes were thick trails of tears as her orders were continually ignored by the combatants. "_This is why we're doing this! Cagalli is crying her heart out because this stupid battle is exactly what she feared would happen! And by saying that the Earth Forces are to blame is saying that __**Orb **__is to blame! You're attacking the very thing that Cagalli is trying to save!_"

"No," was all Athrun could think to say in his confusion over what Tolle was saying.

"_So you leave me no choice_," Tolle growled as his eyes suddenly glazed over. "_**I will defeat you!!**_"

Without another word, the Fortitude lunged forward as it drew a beam saber. Growling slightly, Athrun mirrored his opponent and lunged forward. The two Gundams crashed into the other's shield with almost enough force to bend their neo-titanium frames. Recovering more quickly, Athrun knocked the shield aside as he moved in to deliver a slash at the mobile suit's headpiece. Using the momentum of Athrun's shove to its advantage, the Fortitude went into a backwards roll, leaving the Savior cutting only air. As it continued its roll, the Fortitude kicked out and smashed its foot against Athrun's portside Amfortas plasma cannon, crippling it.

Drawing back as the Fortitude righted itself, Athrun prepared himself for Tolle's next move. Seeing the Fortitude preparing for another lunge, a moment of inspiration struck him. Throwing his shield at the charging Gundam, he felt a small grin on his face as Tolle did as he expected, deflecting the slab of metal to the side and not altering his course. Snatching his second beam saber, he brought it downwards in a slash that successfully hacked off the Fortitude's still-extended left arm, shield and all. Slicing his other saber forward, he cut the Fortitude's beam saber's hilt in two pieces, which destroyed the deadly weapon. Blasting his engines, the Savior tackled the Fortitude and went into a steep dive towards the _Minerva_ and the sea below. Time seemed to slow as they drew closer to the water below. With their present course, they'd likely splash down fairly close to the _Minerva_. Good, perhaps the crew would be able to retrieve Tolle from the water so he and Athrun could have a decent conversation!

Movement in the corner in the Savior's camera caught Athrun's eye. The Fortitude's one remaining arm, which was blocked from reaching its remaining beam saber on its hip, reached up and grabbed the hilt of the Flash-Edge boomerang on its shoulder. Damn! Rather than attack, the Fortitude latched its arm down upon the Savior's neck as its engines roared to life, drastically altering their course away from the water and towards the _Minerva_ itself, without Tolle realizing it.

Gasping, Athrun tried to quickly free himself but the Fortitude's grip was considerable. Letting out a yell as he saw the warship's hull come ever closer, he activated his beam sabers and jabbed them into the Fortitude's engines, causing a fierce explosion to erupt from the Gundam's backside. If he'd plunged his sabers at a slightly more inward angle, he could've caused the entire machine to explode. But he wasn't trying to kill the Lieutenant, only to get him to let go. And boy did he immediately!

But as soon as the arm came free, the Fortitude drew it back and slashed forward with its beam weapon ignited. Even though it no longer had its engines to help it fly, the Savior still hadn't been able to safely pull out of reach. This was the reason why the boomerang not only struck, but was able to completely remove the Savior's headpiece, left shoulder, and arm.

Tolle didn't even get a chance to feel a burst of pride over his victory over the man who almost killed him two years ago. Without its engines to keep it in flight, the Fortitude crashed mightily into the _Minerva_'s side. It went into a slight skid as its momentum carried it partially into the Impulse's catapult. And even though the Savior did still have its engines, without its headpiece and main camera, it was effectively blinded. That was the reason that Athrun quickly followed Tolle into having his machine sprawled out on the _Minerva_'s hull near the catapult.

He was badly jostled by the impact. Something exploded above him, sending shrapnel showering down upon him. Another explosion to his side sent more shrapnel blowing up towards his face. If not for his visor, that shrapnel would've dug its hot edges deeply into his face. Reorienting himself, Athrun pulled the emergency ejection lever and opened the Savior's cockpit. No sooner had he done so than did an explosion suddenly rock the catapult. Thanks to the angle that his Gundam was lying at, Athrun was quite protected from the blast and more shrapnel from the source. Only once the explosion died down did he crawl out of his ruined machine and look towards where the explosion had come from.

The Fortitude was no more. All that was left was a smoldering pile of debris and twisted metal. Even as he watched, a large number of engineers and crewmembers came rushing forward to smother the flames and recover the crashed Savior.

"Tolle!" he yelled, stumbling slightly as he hurried towards the wreckage. He'd already lost so many friends, even his best friend. He didn't want to lose another, even if they were essentially on opposite sides of the war once again. And though Tolle was certainly nowhere near the friend to him as the one that they'd both shared, he was still someone he could easily call on when he needed help.

"Let _go _of me!" a familiar voice yelled angrily over the burning inferno. "I can walk on my _own!_"

Stumbling around the wreckage, Athrun spotted a trio of soldiers restraining a struggling and heavily bleeding Tolle Koenig. Athrun watched with mixed feelings as his companion was hauled away, his wrists already cuffed behind his back. The _Minerva_ had captured itself a prisoner.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

"Dammit!" Heine growled as he barely rolled his GOUF out of the way of another massive Agni blast. This Captain Neo Roanoke was a _very _good pilot! His GOUF had already lost its left arm and his shield was heavily dented and twisted out of shape because of that damned Agni. To make matters worse, his GOUF was nearly out of power too. If Lady Luck didn't smile down on him soon, he was finished for good this time! "You won't kill me. You won't!"

"_Perhaps, perhaps not_," Neo said as he threw his Rapier's one remaining Stiletto armor penetrator at the evasive GOUF. "_But today, we will most certainly sink that ship!_"

As he said that, a fierce explosion tore a large hole into the _Minerva_'s hull. It was a fatal mistake on Heine's part that he looked off to the side in order to survey the damage done to his ship. Using the explosion's distraction to his fullest advantage, Neo fired the Agni cannon once again. Heine didn't have time to react in any way other than to gasp in horror. The Agni's blast tore a large hole in the chest armor of the GOUF and blasted its headpiece clean off. Heine yelled as various instruments in his GOUF exploded and showered him with hot shrapnel. If not for his helmet and fireproof flight suit, he would've received a lot more injures that the crash into the water gave him.

With torrents of water gushing into the damaged cockpit of his GOUF, Heine quickly pulled the emergency ejection lever. Once the interior of his mobile suit had sufficiently flooded, he pushed himself out and swam for the surface. When his former machine unexpectedly exploded, he was further propelled towards the surface. Once finally breaking the surface, he could only watch from his new vantage point as the battle finally concluded with Shinn destroying several of the Orb ships, including its large carrier. Once that flagship had been destroyed, the remaining Orb and Earth Alliance fleet began to withdraw.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

_**Minerva  
**_**1:27pm**

"No serious damage to the main engines, Captain," Arthur reported in a neutral voice. "But there is significant damage to the ship's hull, weapons, and the Impulse's launch catapult." As he was speaking, Captain Gladys was quietly reviewing a report of the estimated repair time needed for the hull alone. "Of our mobile suits, the GOUF was completely destroyed, the Savior, Warrior, and Phantom are all heavily damaged. Although it seems that the Savior can be saved once the replacement parts arrive from Gibraltar. Overall, things aren't looking too good."

"Yes, it's going to be tough just sitting here waiting for supplies and repairs," Gladys remarked in a very displeased tone of voice. "Especially considering how close we are to Gibraltar, but I guess it can't be helped." Sighing as she handed the list back to her Deputy Captain, Gladys turned and said, "Make sure you keep an eye out for enemies, both above and under the water. I'm going to be visiting our prisoner, notify me of any issues that arise."

True to her word, the blonde Captain walked straight towards the infirmary. With all the problems that they'd run into as the _Minerva_ was searching for a hiding place in the rocky cliffs that bordered the sea, as well as directing and redirecting the many repair crews, this was the first time that Gladys had even stepped out of the bridge since before the battle had even begun. And though there was no noticeable damage to the interior portion of the ship that she was in or was heading towards, the marks of battle were clearly evident on many of the personnel that she passed. Most had some form of bandaging upon them, be it a simple band-aid or having their entire limb wrapped up in a cast. Only just recently had Medical finally been able to slow its ragged pace to attend to the many injured crewmen and work at a more leisure pace.

Although she had ordered the prisoner to be taken to the brig as soon as his injuries were attended to, Gladys was almost certain that he hadn't even left Medical yet. Despite the fact that he should've received treatment first, Gladys wouldn't have been surprised if the doctors had been forced to put his care off until they were able to handle the flow of crewmembers. Getting as many technicians and engineers back to work on repairing the severe amount of damage to the _Minerva_ was a top priority at the moment.

As she was walking into the room, Gladys was instantly snapped out of her musings by the sounds of a struggle going on. She took in the situation almost immediately. The doctor and his assistant were standing off to the side watching with only professional worry at the scuffle that was happening, yet both seemed unharmed. The captured Extended was still sleeping off the drugs on the bed where she was still safely restrained. Commander Zala was standing off to the other side supported by a crutch and his left knee wrapped in bandages. However, the center of the attention was off to the right side of the medical bay. Lieutenant Lunamaria Hawke, despite having her left arm in a sling, was strangling a wildly protesting Lieutenant Koenig. Of the injured personnel in the room, he was easily the one most covered in bandages. The Lieutenant had his shirt removed, showing the blood-stained bandages coating his torso, his right arm set in a sling, as well as the bleeding wrappings that were secured over the right side of his forehead were painfully visible.

"—call me that name again, Lieutenant!" Luna was growling in an obviously peeved tone of voice.

"But it's so—much fun—!!" Tolle managed to gasp out around the iron-hold she had on him with her uninjured right arm squeezing tightly around his neck."Miss Red—ZAKU—cute when mad!!"

"Cute, huh?" Luna snapped, her face lighting up with either embarrassment or anger. She tightened her hold dramatically, causing Tolle's already red face to brighten. "How's _this _for 'cute'?"

"Let him go, Luna," Athrun said from where he awkwardly stood. "Remember, he's also a prisoner and we treat prisoners with dignity."

"Only when they _deserve _it, Commander!" Luna growled, glaring in a slightly disgruntled manner that he'd try to prevent her from properly 'disciplining' the Lieutenant.

"Am I interrupting something?" Gladys asked, her face deceivingly expressionless. "Or should I come back when you're finished, Lieutenant Hawke?"

"Captain?!" everyone in the room squawked, having not noticed her entrance. Luna released the nearly-purple faced Lieutenant reflexively, which caused the young man to collapse painfully upon the floor at her feet from the head spins he was experiencing.

"Dare I ask what that was all about?" she asked in heavy tone. She really didn't need or want to deal with such childish outbursts as what she suspected had just happened.

"And I thought—Cagalli was—bad with self—control," Tolle wheezed from where he'd pushed himself into a sitting position at Luna's feet. Looking at Athrun's narrowed gaze at his insult to Cagalli, he asked, "Are all female—Coordinators like this? I know Miss Lacus isn't but—"

Ignoring the rising conversation between the trio, Gladys walked up to the doctor. "How severe are Lieutenant Koenig's injuries?"

Humming slightly as he quickly dug out a clipboard, the man said, "Well, thankfully he doesn't seem to have any internal bleeding after suffering such a crash against the hull. However, he does have multiple cracked ribs and his right shoulder was badly dislocated. I must say that I am truly impressed with whatever safety features that were installed into that mobile suit he was piloting. I doubt even one of our own pilots could've walked away with only these for injuries. As far as his head injury goes, I believe he got that from shrapnel after he'd climbed to safety. There was a slight amount of burnt tissue around the wound. Overall, I'd recommend he gets plenty of bed rest with minimal activity for at least a month so his ribs have time to properly heal themselves."

"I see," she quietly. Truthfully, she'd expected him, being the Natural that he was, to be in far worse shape after witnessing the crash firsthand as it happened. Indeed, in her opinion, many Naturals wouldn't have been able to move after, much less walk away from, such a crash. Turning back to the Lieutenant, she saw him staring unerringly at her. "Lieutenant, I highly recommend you get plenty of rest while you're aboard the _Minerva_. Because I cannot guarantee what's going to happen to you once we arrive in Gibraltar."

Tolle merely gave a quiet nod to her statement before returning his gaze back to Lunamaria. However, the red-haired girl had apparently walked out of the medical bay during his small lapse of attention. This realization earned a small grumble of disappointment from Tolle since he'd been hoping to continue with his newly-discovered form of entertainment.

* * *

**(Author's Note) **It's short, I know. But with what I had planned to happen next, I decided that it wouldn't really flow too well with the current chapter content. I hope you all enjoyed this little battle. And I wonder how many of you saw the outcome between Tolle vs Athrun? Not too many, I'm sure ^_^ And thank you **Paintball-Gamer** and **animefan29** for reviewing this chapter for me!

The next chapter promises to be much longer because I'm finally turning my attention to the attempted ambush. Let's see how (A)Kira handles that situation. And the chapter following that will likely be one of the most challenging I've ever written because I won't be the only author who does his piece on it. That's right, there'll be multipile authors writing towards the outcome of that chapter! I can hardly wait for it!

Also, to those of you aspiring Gundam SEED authors, my friend **animefan29** has issued a challenge on the newest one-shot he's posted (Growth of a Seed). I highly recommend you go and check it out because it is an extremely promising idea! If I wasn't already weighed down by my own projects, I wouldn't mind writing it myself!

One final note: this should be a much better address to the picture of the only other ship that is of the same class as what that of the _Early Harvest_ is. If this link doesn't work, I don't know what will!

http://www(.)mahq(.)net/mecha/gundam/astray/cornelius(.)htm


	16. The Balkans Conflict

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 16: The Balkans Conflict_

**December 15, 73 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**, Greece coastline  
9:32am**

Peeking into the slight darkness of the brig, Luna's frown deepened considerably as she reluctantly walked inside. In all honesty, she really didn't want to be here. For as much as he tended to get on her nerves because his tendency of calling those ridiculous nicknames, she couldn't help but silently admit that she respected the Orb Lieutenant. But the reason that she found herself being very apprehensive around him was because he always seemed to be able to slip through her defenses and found ways to embarrass or harass her in some way. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought he was doing it on purpose. So, buffering up her defenses so as not to be caught off guard again, she walked into the small brig and headed straight for the solitary prisoner's cell.

Tolle was lounging upon his stiff brig bed, gazing up at his cell's ceiling with a blank stare. Before she could utter a word, the Lieutenant bluntly said, "Fuck off, bastard. I'm not in the mood for more of your harassment."

"Oh really?" Luna snapped, huffing audibly. _How dare he?!_ "Then excuse me for caring!"

As she started to walk away, Tolle painfully sat up as quickly as he could while calling out, "Wait, Miss Red ZAKU! I thought you were the Impulsive Grump! Don't leave yet, please!"

Pausing, she turned a critical eye at him as his climbed to his feet and leaned against his cell bars. Luna made a big show of considering his request before turning back and glaring at him for calling her that name again.

"Thank you, Luna," he said smiling appreciatively. Somehow he was able to convey a deep level of gratitude through his voice as he said that. "To what do I owe this little visit from you?"

"I have some questions for you," Luna said. Because she was watching, she was able to see his left eyebrow twitch as his smile faded slightly. Before he could open his mouth to ask, she quickly added, "I haven't been ordered by the Captain or anyone else. These are questions of my own."

"You can ask," Tolle said neutrally. "But I might not answer."

"Fair enough," Luna acknowledged. "When we were in Medical, you mentioned Miss Lacus like you actually knew her in person."

"Of course I do," he said easily, smiling slightly. "She's a wonderful person, always smiling and extremely caring."

"Then, do you know where she has been for the past two years?" Luna asked, watching his expression and posture critically. "All anyone knows in ZAFT is that she had gotten involved in the previous war after Chairman Zala branded her and her father as traitors and that she disappeared after the fighting came to an end."

"Why are you asking about Miss Lacus?" Tolle asked, his face a perfect blank as he eyed her with just as much scrutiny as she was giving him.

"I… Lately I've been… getting a feeling that something was going on," Luna admitted quietly. "I mean she shows suddenly after two years of absence and helps to calm everyone down after the nuclear attack and she's been working with Chairman Durandal quite closely up until she was kidnapped… I just find that to be a little too… coincidental and convenient, I guess."

"I see…" was all Tolle said in response as his gaze drifted to the side in thought. "…After the war, Miss Lacus decided to live in Orb. I don't know the exact reason why she decided that. I guess she at first wanted to get away from all the politics and bigotry that was happening in the PLANTs. And I guess she felt she'd be…closer to Kira by living in his homeland."

"Kira?"

"Kira Yamato, pilot of the old Freedom," Tolle answered automatically, idly scratching the old burn scars on his neck. "She and Kira had had..._some kind_ of a relationship towards the end of the war."

"B-But isn't she engaged to Athrun?" Luna couldn't help but sputter out. Everyone knew that Lacus and Athrun had been engaged. Luna had always been very jealous of that fact because Athrun was such a hottie! How could an idol like Miss Lacus possibly cheat on Athrun like that?!

"Their engagement was broken off when Athrun's father declared her a traitor," Tolle said, grinning slightly up at her. "Good thing too, I don't think Kira could've stood being 'just friends' with her at that point." But then his grin died as he sat back down on his stiff bed, gazing at the crevice in the floor near the wall. "But then he disappeared at the end of the war. I think she was planning on moving back to PLANTs after she overcame her grief, but then Kawayui-chan came along and she—"

"Kawayui-chan?" Luna asked, feeling very surprised as a sudden thought came to her mind. _Did that mean_— "Did Miss Lacus—she got—a child?"

"Well, that's the one billion dollar question, isn't it?" Tolle asked with a wide sneer. "She has never told us whether or not little Kawayui is hers or not. She just showed up one day with the girl only a few months after the war. Although, personally, I don't think she is."

"Why?" Luna asked impulsively. But even as she did, a new thought filtered into her mind. It was possible, even likely, but—

"According to what Miss Lacus said, she and Kira weren't 'genetically compatible enough to produce a child' and a few other things," Tolle said, speaking the very thought that was on her mind. He shook his head ruefully before he reached up and tenderly rubbed the bandage on his forehead. "I was lost about three sentences into the explanation."

"I see," she said, thinking hard.

What Tolle said did make sense, and it was very real and sad fact about Coordinators. In order for a pair of Coordinators to reproduce, they had to have their genetics closely measured and calculated in order to match the most compatible pairs together so they could successfully produce the next generation. The Coordinators' partners (if they too were Coordinators) had no say in the matter. However, there were very, very, _very_ rare instances that two non-compatible partners could produce children. But the calculated odds of such a thing happening was generally one in about one million; too rare to really even be worth considering. Ironically, most Coordinators were compatible with Naturals.

"We're getting off track though," Tolle said, breaking into her thoughts. "What was it that you really wanted to know?"

Shaking her head slightly to clear the unnecessary thoughts from it, she looked up and her eyes became irresistibly drawn to his ugly scars. Impulsively, she said, "Why didn't you get those fixed after the war?"

"Eh?" Tolle's slightly dumbfounded expression portrayed his confusion far better than any words ever could.

Blushing slightly, she couldn't help but glance away as she said, "Your scars."

"…I keep them to remind me," he said quietly, earning her questioning gaze. "…To never again be…dead weight baggage that needs saving again."

His solemn expression was very pronounced, reminding Luna of just how badly he'd likely taken the shock of losing his friend in the previous war. This was a side of the slightly-bipolar Lieutenant that she had little inclination to spend much time around out of fear of him unintentionally spreading his grief unto her. Feeling an immediate need to change the subject, she asked, "If Miss Lacus was indeed in Orb for the past two years, why did she suddenly decide to return?"

"She didn't," Tolle said bluntly, his hard gaze drifting back up towards hers. "She had never left Orb until shortly after the war started. She's been on the _Archangel_ ever since."

"The _Archangel_?" Now Luna was really starting to become convinced that Tolle was speaking the truth. He was using the same story that he'd used when he and Lady Cagalli had spoken to Athrun almost two weeks ago. And she was very sure in her guess that none of them had even known of her presence there at the time. Plus, many of the details that he'd used seemed too realistic and thought-out to possibly be a trick of some kind. "But…what about the Lacus that was kidnapped?"

"Oh, that was Kira just removing Durandal's Lacus-pawn from the game," there was a full-blown grin on his face as he said that. "That was definitely one of the best moves he's made so far!"

"Kira?" Luna repeated for the second time. "You mean Kira Yamato right? You agree with Athrun that Akira Iyadomi is him too?"

"Without a doubt," Tolle said with a strange smile on his face as he said that. "And when I bust out of here, the first thing I'm gonna do is hunt him down and drag his ass back to Miss Lacus. The drama from that reunion would be good enough to air on television as one of those ridiculous 'reality shows.'"

Despite herself, Luna cracked a small grin at his joking statement. Quickly sobering up, she said, "Aren't you worried about what he might've done to her? The Lacus he kidnapped?"

"Only if he's stupid enough to actually think she's the real one," Tolle said, his face suddenly deathly serious. "If he somehow thinks she's the real one…there's going to be some _serious_ hell to pay. _Especially_ when Cagalli gets her hands on him! …You know, for thinking of herself as his 'older' sister, Cagalli sure likes to act like the _younger_ sister when it comes to issues with him."

"_Sister?!_"

"Uh, yeah," he acknowledged, staring at her with slight surprise. "You didn't know?"

Rather than answer, Luna just stared at Tolle as though he'd grown a second head. When she had originally come here, she'd wanted him to confirm or deny her earlier suspicions. But now she was finding herself becoming enthralled by his tales of his friends and past exploits. Suffice to say, Luna suddenly had a very real feeling that she was likely not going to be leaving the brig for _quite_ some time!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 21, 73 CE  
Linz, Austria  
6:08am**

Groaning quietly in his frustration, Akira leaned back in his seat to stretch his protesting back. Still nothing, how could the Earth Alliance have such horrible computer security and yet still manage to hide the location of their Rapier factory so completely from him? But to be fair, none of his previous targets had really been a secret from the general military or public. However, it was still irritating the hell out of him!

Glancing off to the side, Akira's eyes were once again drawn to the former pink-haired waitress as she was eating a small breakfast while having a lively conversation with Oria again. Despite all her protests and demands to be returned to back to the PLANTs, Meer certainly seemed to be enjoying her time with the Falacci family. She seemed to be enjoying herself so much that Akira hadn't even been forced to keep her from running away in the dead of night like he'd had to do in the wilderness. Then again, Oria's very welcoming and calming personality had that effect on a lot of people, including him.

_He was leaning against a stone balcony railing staring out at the beautiful golden-red sun that was setting. A gentle presence next to him made itself known to him. As he glanced over at the person, he found himself staring at a beauty that was even more breath-taking than the scenery in front of him. That pink-haired girl with her wide, kind blue eyes seemed to be positively __**glowing**__ from the golden light of the sun._

_She smiled happily at him, completing angelic image she portrayed. There was a clear note of fulfillment in her voice as she asked, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stay here forever?"_

'_**Yes, it would be**__,' that was the thought that immediately came to his mind. But he merely answered with a small, uncertain smile of his own. But was it really alright for him to even __**be here**__, with this angel of his dreams?_

Unbeknownst to him, Akira's hand had slowly drifted up to the ring that he was wearing under his shirt. As his mind finally returned out of his foggy and scattered memories, he clenched his hand tightly and yet delicately over the wavy band, reassuring himself that it was still there. A sense of sadness and a yearning swelled up within his heart. It was so powerful that it was almost a palpable pain. _I swear once this is all over; I __**will**__ find you again._

"And repeating our top story is the recent outbreak of rebellions rising in southeastern Europe!" a fuzzy voice suddenly said from the television that had been playing in the background. "With the recent libration of the Black Sea by ZAFT forces, rebellions in areas nearby are continuing to increase in size and intensity."

Grasping upon to the sounds of the newsman in an attempt to channel the sadness and need away, he turned at stared at the scenes of devastation and death that were playing on the television. In an instant his gaze hardened as his face went impassive, staring at the monitor as he took in as much detail as he could.

"With the recent approach of numerous ZAFT forces into the region, the fighting has grown extremely intense," the newsman was saying. "And though the Alliance is clearly trying its best to hold back the advance of the Coordinators, there is a general retreat order being passed among their forces."

"The Alliance seems to be colligating its forces in western Romania, near the city of Timisoara," there was an image of a large formation of Windams and Dagger Ls flying overhead towards the horizon. "With the way things in the area are progressing, there's promising to be a very large-scale battle about to take place in the near-future. And with the recent disappearance of the Neo Freedom, the situation can only be seen as bleak for the civilians of the region."

Rising to his feet immediately, Akira immediately shutdown his laptop and headed for the backroom to collect his things. Unlike Meer, who had been allowed to sleep in the Großmutter K's Café's guest room, Akira was all-too-happy to return to and sleep inside the Neo Freedom, even though it was hidden on the far side of the city. Despite that, Akira had still moved a few of his items into the café to make it more convenient for him as he tried to continue his research.

As he was stuffing his laptop and spare clothes into his rucksack, a slight rustle behind him alerted him to his company. Without turning from his packing, he said, "It's time I left here. I know what I need to do now."

"I see," Oria said quietly, a frown clearly etched on her face. "I do not approve of you doing this, Akira."

"I know, but someone has to do something to stop this madness," he said, zipping the rucksack shut and heaving it upon his shoulders. Turning to face the woman, he said, "And ZAFT is no more innocent in this than the Earth Alliance. I feel that they're the ones behind this latest rebellion, even if it's indirectly."

"I understand why you feel you must go," Oria said sternly. "But why must you fight them _alone?_ You should go to the Orb or find the _Archangel_ and ask for their help! I believe that Lady Cagalli is trying to bring about an end to this war, just as you are."

Nodding in agreement, Akira said, "I have no doubt that Orb's Chief Representative is indeed doing that, Mrs. Falacci. But if I fear that if I go to them now, they will be ostracized by the world for providing aid to me; _especially_ when things really start to get out of hand."

"But _one man_ in a mobile suit _cannot_ defeat the _world __**by himself!**_" Oria said in a somewhat louder voice than she'd intended to use.

Smiling despite having a sad look in his eyes, Akira said, "You may be right. But you're forgetting something very important, Mrs. Falacci… I'm a _Gundam_ pilot." Oria slapped him hard for that remark. Rubbing his red cheek, Akira muttered out, "Not sure I deserve that."

Before he could say anything else, Oria drew him into a bone-crushing hug. It was a hug that he tentatively returned as she whispered, "You take care of yourself, Akira."

"Who do you think you're talking to, Mrs. Falacci?" Akira asked, a spiteful grin on his face as he pulled away and moved towards the exit.

"A _Gundam_ pilot," Oria answered, voice thick with repressed emotions. "And a _reckless_ one at that!" Akira only smiled and gave her a small, two-fingered salute as he disappeared through the backdoor.

Turning his attention back to his newest mission, Akira's face hardened slightly. As he was mentally preparing himself for reentering the battlefields, a peculiar scent wafted up his nose. Looking off to its origins, a smile pulled itself across his face.

Maybe he should make a few stops along the way…

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 24, 73 CE  
Baja, Hungary  
4:45pm**

The fields were scorched and riddled like a honeycomb with craters. Corpses of soldiers, rebels, and civilians alike were scattered across the grasslands, twisted wreckage from old-fashioned tanks and artillery trucks, mobile suits, and even a sad few cars and buses rested on the battlefields that covered the region. There was so much destruction, so much fighting, in so short a time that the unfortunate locals hadn't even been able to properly bury any of the numerous dead before the battles sparked up again. The cities and small towns of the region were much the same, with numerous holes on their walls and damage of varying degrees on their structures. No building was exempt from having some form of destruction upon it.

In the Neo Freedom, Akira stared sadly down upon the scenes of remorse and depression that was hanging about the town that he currently hovering over. The term 'desolate' seemed to take on an all-new meaning as he watched the civilians below. There were very few living people out on the streets, and those that were sprawled about, most armed with rifles or rocket launchers. Some were attempting to get some rest in the lull of the battle, sleeping under overhangs of debris to cover them from the snowfall or any shrapnel. The park he was heading towards was unsurprisingly empty of any form of life because it was such an open area, easy to pick off careless targets that wondered into it.

Deactivating the Mirage Colloid, the Neo Freedom became easily visible as it continued its slow descent towards the park. Almost immediately after becoming visible, heads began turning to watch the Gundam as it gently settled down upon the burnt and cratered ground of the park. As he was knelt the Gundam down on one knee, Akira very carefully maneuvered his precious cargo down towards the ground.

With its large shield held perpendicular to its body, none of the cautiously gathering civilians could see what it was doing until the large metal obstruct was nearly upon the ground. Large boxes were stacked in a slightly jostled manner on the shield, indicating a less than smooth trip from wherever it had acquired them. Once the shield was gently resting upon the ground, providing easy access to the crates, the cockpit of the machine smoothly slid open and Akira slowly descended to the ground by the cable hoist.

As Akira began unloading the large crates off his shield, the crowds of the civilians watching had grown considerably. Cautious heads were looking out from the various hiding places around the park to watch as the mysterious blond pilot went about his business. Nobody moved to help or question him for fear of this being some kind of trap, and many had their weapons trained upon the seemingly-oblivious young man.

Once all the crates were unloaded, Akira went towards a specifically marked one and tore it open. He quickly extracted a pair of propane tanks and what was clearly a portable grill, which he opened and set to the side. By the time that Akira had begun tearing open the next few crates, which revealed large amounts of meats and other foods, did a couple of people begin slowly walking towards the Gundam pilot.

It wasn't until a full twenty minutes after Akira had begun cooking some hamburgers and soups, with help from the brave few who'd ventured forth, that more of the starving people began working their way over. The promise of delicious foods and a full meal was truly a gift from above after all the death and destruction that they'd been experiencing. They couldn't resist the chance to eat after easily two weeks of starvation.

Akira Iyadomi watched with a gentle smile as the survivors began feasting and chatting with one another, the war momentarily forgotten. This was what he was fighting for right here; true peace on Earth.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 25, 73 CE  
Earth Alliance Outpost, Albania  
6:30pm**

There was a cold wind blowing in from the north, bringing with it a literal blizzard. Visibility was severely limited, scarcely ten meters at best. Even though the reasonably small country of Albania bordered the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas, it was still a very mountainous country thanks to the Balkan Mountains. Thus when winter came, those high elevations became subject to some very intense winter storms and sharp temperature drops.

The country, for all its natural beauty, was far from being considered a very important or advantageous strategic location for the war. That was why it was one of the few that had ever sustained much damage from the invading ZAFT forces in the previous war. But thanks to the sudden rise of rebellion in the Balkans, that was no longer the case. With the loss of Lohengrin Gate and the serious threat to Suez, along with the questionable placement of the Rapier mobile suit factory, the once small military outpost located in the northern region of Albania, near the city of Puke, had grown drastically in size and power.

On most days, the outpost was bustling with activity. There would be constant monitoring for attacks from rebels and possibly even ZAFT. The pilots would be on alert for the need to scramble to their new machines to protect their outpost. Mechanics would be hustling about as they performed whatever repairs that were needed. The outpost commanders would be going over the various reports and trying to find some way to be of service their military.

But not on this special night. Christmas was a holiday observed by nearly all nations of Earth and the PLANTs, for different reasons or meanings, but it was still considered a time of peace for all. Thus the commander in charge of the garrison felt it was safe to allow a vast portion of the soldiers on duty to have the night and following day off to celebrate the holiday. Many of those soldiers, officers, and mechanics were gathered in the mess hall as they enjoyed a large Christmas feast that the cooks had spent the last twelve hours preparing.

Thus the sudden attack came as a complete and utter surprise.

Concealed by the heavy snowfall, a large shadow approached the compound and unleashed a massive energy blast. The beam tore out of the sky and struck the mess hall building, incinerating many of the men and women inside. Those that weren't killed outright, died in the following explosion or were crushed by the collapse of the heavy structure. Thick black smoke bloomed out of the debris as the fires began raging.

An alarm sounded mere moments after the explosion, but it was far too late at that point. More energy blasts rained down on the buildings from a large black silhouette that was hovering in the skies above the base. Then two shadows broke away from the silhouette, flying down and landing in different locations of the base.

One of the shadows drew a long slab of metal from which a beam blade sprung to life. This shadow methodically cut all nearby buildings to pieces with its large anti-ship beam sword. It mowed down all fleeing personnel with its Vulcan cannons with a cold precision that put the chill of the surrounding winter to shame. Launching a pincer into the side of the nearby radar tower, it yanked it mightily off to the side, sending it crashing down upon a group of fleeing and confused soldiers.

The other shadow that landed drew a beam rifle and began walking through its portion of the base, blasting all buildings, vehicles, and personnel with a clearly savage glee. Jumping into the air, it dropped to the ground and crushed the retreating car flat, killing all five of its passengers in an instant. Grasping a beam saber from its hip, it jumped into the air again as it threw the ignited weapon to the side. With pinpoint accuracy, the deadly saber stabbed into yet another hastily fleeing vehicle, incinerating the driver and causing the truck to explode.

Finally landing after blowing the mobile suit hangars to pieces, the last of the three shadows raised its massive cannon and took aim. The pilot of the machine didn't even bat an eye as it fired and destroyed the outpost's infirmary. The result of the explosion was a large crater in the former medical facility, with only its outer walls still mostly intact. Small explosions upon its backside quickly caused the mobile suit to turn and located the brave and foolish individuals who'd dare attack it. The Vulcan cannons and gun launchers mounted on its right shoulder opened fire and blasted the soldiers into unrecognizable pieces.

As the three attacking machines quickly tore the base to pieces, a single soul from the wreckage of the mess hall slowly and weakly raised his head to look up at who'd attack them so suddenly and ruthlessly on this night. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Walking towards him was what could've been mistaken for a Rapier mobile suit. It had everything, Striker Pack and all. However this mobile suit, with its blood red eyes glowing menacingly, was painted a deep, forbidding black. Those hungry red eyes glowed as they stared down at him with the mobile suit raising its beam rifle and opening fire, ending his life an instant later.

"Merry Christmas," a cold voice from the Sword Rapier said over its external speakers. However, there was no one left alive to hear it.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 26, 73 CE  
****Djibril Manor  
****9:00am**

In the darkness of his chamber, Lord Djibril sat upon his expensive chair as he sipped his favorite red French wine. Though he gave off the air of being calm and collected, inside he was seething with barely controlled fury. How could his plans have gone so wrong so badly because of a few wildcards?!

The first wildcard was that annoying warship, the _Minerva_. His most talented and trained soldiers and units had all tried and failed to destroy that wretched warship. Granted, quite a few of their battles had left the ship limping away and badly damaged. However, with each fresh engagement, the thing came back even more powerful and unstoppable than before. It was infuriating, to put it _politely_. And although this most recent battle, with the help of the Orb taskforce, had done far more damage than any previous time thanks to the immense skills of the Orb military, Djibril had finally decided to cut his losses before they grew any larger by hunting the ship down again.

With the surprising return of the blonde Extended that was the former pilot of the RGX-03 Gaia, Djibril had issued fresh orders to Phantom Pain. He could tell that Captain Roanoke was hesitant to send the girl back out onto the battlefield, but he would ultimately follow his orders. That was not only why he was the commander of Phantom Pain, but that was also how Djibril had had the man's mind reprogrammed as such. And this time their target, their _true_ target, was one that had rapidly gone from being a thorn in his side to a pain in his ass.

This thorn had at first seemed like completely unimportant player in this grand game of extermination and domination. No matter how powerful a single mobile suit might be, to believe that this one man could tackle the sheer might of the Earth Alliance alone was ludicrous at best. Djibril, with the Alliance and Logos actually agreeing with him for once, believed that the mobile suit would either bite off more than it could chew or ZAFT would take it out. Either way, it was of little consequence as far as they had been concerned. And yet, as time went by, with its blitzkrieg style of attacking, the Neo Freedom had not only devastated the Alliance's control of the southern Eurasia, but it's very presence on the battlefield was more than enough effect to turn the tides of battle against whichever side it was fighting against.

Some intelligence that Djibril had recently come across stated that the pilot of the Neo Freedom had been spotted repeatedly throughout the Balkan Peninsula, delivering much needed food and emergency supplies to the locals for free as their militias and the Alliance fought for control of the region. The few operatives he had in the area had tried tracking where the rogue Gundam was acquiring these supplies, but each time it delivered food, it came from a different, random country and was a completely legal purchase. And though it had yet to make an appearance on the battlefield in this region, the reports stated that the mere sight of the machine flying over the various cities and the pilot actually _disembarking_ to talk and encourage the locals had been more than enough to break the courage of many of the Alliance soldiers. Many soldiers were either rebelling in some way or just completely deserting the military, so that they'd not only be forced to possibly battle the Gundam but to finally be finished with this 'pointless' war.

How could one mobile suit have gained so much public support in so little time?! If anything, Djibril would've thought that Akira Iyadomi would've lost the public support after Durandal's window of amnesty had closed. That incident had been one of the very few that Djibril was actually grateful for the Neo Freedom doing. Now that that blasted Chairman no longer had Lacus Clyne's support for whatever schemes he was cooking up, he could no longer just issue orders without some form of skepticism. However, not even this little drawback seemed to be having much impact on his efforts at this time though. Oh well, it would come in due time.

What Djibril needed to concentrate about now was what he was going to do about Akira Iyadomi and his Neo Freedom. He and the Alliance could no longer simply ignore the Gundam and hope that one day it would just keel over and die. They needed to go on the offensive and destroy the wretched machine before it could do anymore damage to their plans or facilities! Yet locating the accursed Gundam was an exercise of futility at best because of its rather random movements and attack strategies.

But after reviewing the machine's previous targets, Djibril had come across a rather interesting find. The Neo Freedom often targeted bases and factories that played a crucial role in the war effort. That would mean that its fool of a pilot would come running if he could dangle a dangerous enough target in front of him. Thus Djibril had quickly formulated a strategy around this discovery. A strategy that would serve the dual purpose of bringing western Eurasia back into Logos' line of thinking if they didn't wish to not be exterminated like the traitors they were to their own kind!

While even Djibril himself would admit to himself that he was occasionally impatient, especially in regards to destroying those accurse space monsters, this was one of the times that he knew taking his time would best serve his intentions. In another universe, without the threat that the Neo Freedom posed to his plans, Djibril would've launched his plan into action as soon as the blonde Extended girl had sufficiently recovered from her withdrawal symptoms.

Instead, he sat here in his lounge, quietly sipping his French red wine as he reviewed various notes and reports. He could afford to wait this time because the more time that was given to the Extended to master the use of her new machine, as well as fighting against simulated combat data of the Neo Freedom's skills, her chances of finally destroying that nuisance would only increase. Plus, many of Phantom Pain's other pilots were being _savagely_ retrained in the use their new Rapiers. Once they stopped piloting them like Windams, the Rapiers would truly become their ace weapons.

It was only a matter of time.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 27, 73 CE  
Timisoara Rapier Factory, Romania  
11:20am**

They had spent two long weeks of lying in wait; doing their utmost to prepare for the attack and trying to safely disguise their presence from not only the nearby factory but the locals as well. This task only grew that much more difficult when a pair of _Compton_-class land battleships had arrived and joined in their ambush. In addition to the two _Compton_ battleships, Colonel Hirai Hisashi now had almost thirty mobile suits of various models at his beck and call. With this much firepower, they could very easily do battle against the Rapier factory's defenders, but that wasn't their current mission objective.

Many of his subordinates had been getting increasingly restless as the days passed with no sign of the Neo Freedom. And as the situation in the Balkans began to rapidly intensify, that restlessness only grew that much stronger. They couldn't bear just sitting around all day waiting for their objective to finally decide to show itself while the Alliance was quite literally getting away with murder just outside their own warships! Indeed, even Hirai was beginning to question whether Akira would come, or if he'd even managed to find that small leak that they'd planted with the factory's whereabouts.

And then a few days ago, at long last, the Neo Freedom was sighted in the region. This sent the crews and soldiers into a slight frenzy now that they knew that their objective was reasonably nearby. It was only a matter of time before it finally arrived to do some damage to the factory, especially considering that this was where a good portion of the Alliance had gathered their forces around.

And now, that time had finally come!

At first it had seemed like another stressful start of another stressful day. But that had ended in an instant when a pair of railcannon blasts were fired from out of nowhere. The shots hit the factory's primary production line, which caused the domino effect of causing massive damage to the factory and the mobile suits that were in varying levels of completion. The result of that damage alone would've stalled the factory's production output for almost a month.

With only a moment of hesitation, the defenders had immediately sprung into the action, firing a barrage of beams and rail cannon fire in random bursts through the air, trying to force their invisible foe to show himself. It was only after a pair of plasma beams shot forth and destroyed the factory's primary power generator that the Neo Freedom had revealed itself to the world.

As the hidden ZAFT forces watched critically, the Neo Freedom was rapidly engaged by the defending Rapiers and Windams. The six new Euclid mobile armors hung back and used their positron shields to deflect any stray shots that were aimed at the factory. Surprisingly, the armors were being put through quite the workout because the attacking Gundam would target the factory at any chance it got, causing more damage than one might expect.

Under Colonel Hisashi's watchful eye, he saw a subtle shift in the Gundam's positioning and targeting as it danced through the air between its many attackers. "Commence operation! Contact the _Da Vinci_ and _Di Lodovico_. Launch all our mobile suits! Primary target is the Freedom, but destroy the factory and its defenders at will. Once we have a clear field of view, fire our cannons and launch all missiles! Target the factory!"

"Yes sir!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

'_These guys are __**good**_,' Akira acknowledged bitterly, barely being able to bring his beam claw shield up in time to block as he evaded to the side away from a powerful Agni plasma blast. Shifting position as he entered the Full Burst Mode once again, Akira locked upon multiple targets and fired before most could react.

Of the twenty machines he'd targeted, only four had managed to block the attacks with their shields. Of the remaining fifteen Alliance machines, there was now only a pair of exceptional Windams and two of those wretched armors, with the rest being those new Rapiers. Much better odds than they had been mere moments ago! Now all he had to do—_Danger!!_

Immediately he put the Freedom into backwards roll to the left as he tried to raise his beam claw shield again. However he wasn't quick enough as a lucky shot hit him, in the worst place possible! The beam slammed full forced into the Neo Freedom's right eye camera. The beam utterly destroyed the camera as it blew apart the entire right side of the Gundam's headpiece. Had he been using any other machine, the Neo Freedom would've lost its entire headpiece and been crippled instantaneously.

For a few precious seconds, the monitors in the cockpit went out, glowing in a well-known static. Using his enhanced spatial awareness, Akira put the Gundam into a series of evasive maneuvers, firing his weapons in a semi-random pattern; several explosions even followed those half-blind shots. But he was far too concerned with using his other hand to work on the keyboard to his side. Damage to the starboard secondary camera was critical! _Evade right, fire! _Severe damage inflicted upon the—_dodge backwards_—primary camera in the forehead with only a marginal amount done to the port secondary camera. _Roll left, block!_ Communications (the radio transmitter formerly stored in the right-side head crest) were destroyed. _Descend, shoot upwards! _Transferring control—applying changes to the visual feed— rerouting power—updating!

No sooner did he clear his forward screen than the Freedom was suddenly hit powerfully in the back. Ignoring the sensations building up into stomach from his sudden plummet, Akira flared the stabilizer rockets in the Freedom's feet and legs. Thanks to that last minute adjustment, the Gundam crashed in an upright kneeling position. Critical damage to the left Balaena cannon and top wing! _Danger!!_

Raising his large shield, Akira blocked a pair of plasma blasts as he spurred his Gundam back into action. As he lowered his shield, he finally spotted who his attackers were. There must've been at least thirty ZAFT machines here! Ten of the various models, mostly ZAKUs, ZAKU Phantoms, and BABIs, were flying towards him. The rest were bearing down on partially destroyed factory.

"Dammit!" he growled as the Full Burst targeting computer rose.

Unlike all times previous, the locks weren't instantaneous and nor were there quite as many. On the outside of his machine, his remaining Balaena, the Xiphias rail cannons, and the four lower wings swung forward under the Neo Freedom's arms and opened fired after a mere moment. Three BABIs were destroyed after he unintentionally shot them through the cockpits and one accidentally lucky shot destroyed a Blaze ZAKU Phantom's Guul. The damage done to the rest of his attackers was with far less of his usual finesse because the severe handicap of only using a single secondary camera to lock onto so many enemies at once.

Rising back into the air, Akira brought his shield as a pair of Slash ZAKUs showered him with short bursts of bean energy. With some difficulty due to the damage done to his left wings, Akira evaded the shots as he returned fire through the shield's rifle slot. Continuing on his sideways course, Akira prepared to holster his rifle in favor of his beam sabers and melee combat. The Slash ZAKUs weren't letting up—_Danger!!_

Dodging to the side and switching weapons, Akira swung around and removed the lunging Sword Rapier's headpiece and upraised arms. Flipping over the still-moving mobile suit, he landed a crushing kick to the Sword Rapier's backside and engines, sending it plummeting earthward—_Danger!!_

As he was turning to shield himself from the Orthros cannon blast, something large and dark shot into view and intercepted the plasma beam. Quick as lightning, the newcomer sent a pair of railgun blasts towards the offender, easily destroying the Gunner ZAKU in its surprise.

Backing away slightly, Akira (along with a fair portion of the other combatants) quickly scrutinized his savior's backside. It looked like a black Rapier mobile suit; those telltale wings were spread wide in front of him, as if trying to throw up a shield between him and the attacking enemies.

A presence off to his side caught his attention quickly. There, hovering right beside him, was another one, except this black Rapier was equipped with a Sword Striker. Raising its hand, the Sword Rapier attached a communication line to the Neo Freedom's hull.

"_Akira Iyadomi, please retreat to the coordinates I'm sending you and stay close to the ground_," a cold voice said over the radio as his side monitor flashed to life with a simple map being projected. "_The Hands of Freedom will cover your escape_."

"…Roger that," Akira said hesitantly. His sixth sense was giving him a bad vibe towards these newcomers. However, they did offer to cover him as he escaped. And while he disliked not being able to complete his mission, ZAFT's interference had quickly been turning quite dangerous towards him.

Dropping to the ground, Akira quickly collected the bisected headpiece of the Rapier he'd just felled. However, his sudden movement had been more than enough incentive to spur the ZAFT and Alliance forces back into action. The first black Rapier merely intercepted whatever beams were aimed for the Freedom and answered such with its own attacks. The Sword Rapier flew forward to engage any attackers that came rushing forward, destroying them with a coldblooded savagery before turning around to flee with the others.

Launching himself back into the air with his cargo gently tucked between his chest and shield, he flew towards where the downloaded map specified. It was at least a two-mile distance away, he could reach it within a few moments. As he flew only a little more than a few meters off the rolling hills towards the high bluff peaks, a warning beeped to life on his monitor. Bringing up a small window, he watched carefully as a large wave of missiles was sent flying overhead, launched from where he was heading.

Rolling the Freedom over, he watched as the missiles rained down upon the pursuing ZAFT mobile suits. Most of them were dodged thanks to the Guuls' superb maneuverability, others merely shot down the deadly projectiles heading towards them. Those few ZAKUs and BABIs that didn't veer off were suddenly forced to as a large wave of energy shot down towards them from ahead of the Neo Freedom.

Turning back around, Akira spotted a third black Rapier equipped with the Launcher Striker taking shots with almost sniper-like precision. The Launcher Rapier was nestled behind a large rock outcropping, effectively shielding it from most retaliatory fire as it took its own shots. Due to the fairly large distance between them and the fact that none of the ZAFT machines had weapons that matched the fearsome Agni for power or distance, the ZAFT mobile suits were forced to retreat.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**1 mile from the factory**

"Did you get all of that?" an excited feminine voice asked. "Please tell me you got all that!"

"I got all of it," the man said in a flat voice as he lowered his heavy-duty camera. "What an interesting turn of events have taken place here."

"Indeed," the woman said, grinning like a cat that had just caught the canary. "Let's hurry! I want this on the evening, no excuses this time!"

"Yeah, yeah," the cameraman grumbled as he set the camera back into its case and started the news van they had rented. If he floored it, he should be able to reach the Timisoara news station within fifteen minutes from this distance.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Central Serbia/Romania border  
****11:52pm**

After the ZAFT forces had finally withdrawn, Akira's rescuers requested for him to board their personal transport, a salvaged and slightly-converted ZAFT _Petrie_-class land battleship from the previous war. They had promised food and supplies, even offering to repair his Gundam. Though he could easily get his own food and supplies, the chance of being able to fix the Neo Freedom's damage in a facility that was designed for that explicit purpose was one that he couldn't pass up, no matter how edgy he was feeling about these strangers.

And so here he was: his powered down Neo Freedom in a mobile suit rack with its onboard computer and operating system under a full and proper lockdown. Across and beside the legendary Gundam were his three black rescuers, who were also powering down their suits and disembarking. Below him as he was descending towards the floor of the hangar was a waiting crowd of what could almost have been mistaken for common military officers and mechanics. Most of those people wore some form of a smile or grin on their faces while others just stared up at the mighty machine their warship was now housing. Akira, with his favorite black shirt and jeans and his semi-blond and brown hair, couldn't help but feel slightly out of place due to the fact that he seemed to be the only one who was not wearing an official-looking uniform.

"Welcome aboard the _Liberator_, Akira Iyadomi," greeted a stern-looking gray-haired woman. Though she was dressed in a simple winter jacket, she somehow was able to pull off the image that it was a military uniform as well. "I believe I speak for all of us when I say how honored we are to have your presence aboard."

A loud cheer rang through the gathered crowd at that statement, momentarily drowning out whatever else the lady had tried to say. Akira couldn't help but wince slightly at the sheer volume, already desiring to leave as soon as possible.

Once things had quieted down enough, the lady continued, "I am Luna Ito, leader of the Hands of Freedom."

Raising his eyebrow at the name, Akira surveyed the group carefully. '_The Hands of Freedom…?_' that sounded a little too close to his Gundam's name. Suspicions, which had started turning in his head when the three Rapiers had appeared, were quickly taking form in his mind. And he suddenly had a very good idea of what these people were doing and were attempting to do in regards to himself.

"Though I'm grateful for your help," Akira said, his voice and expression strictly neutral because of the heavy weight of all the stares upon him. "Why did you interfere with my battle?" He gazed carefully around the large group, earning more than a few confused stares. "Now ZAFT and the Earth Forces will be hunting you just as relentlessly as they're hunting me. There is a _reason_ I fight alone."

"Isn't he so sweet?" a loud feminine voice said from the Rapier to Akira's left. A girl, likely no older than he was, with shockingly bright purple hair was walking forward. She was dressed in a common ZAFT green pilot's uniform and was haphazardly carrying her helmet over her shoulder as a sneer pulled at her lovely face. "He actually wants to fight the world all by himself. What a sweetie!"

"You need to find yourself a girl, mate," a tall, rugged blond man said from his opposite side. This man looked to be well into middle age, with flecks of gray lining his temples. Dressed in a common Earth Alliance blue fight suit, he gave a very impressive figure with his bulky muscles that could be seen under that pilot's uniform. Akira suddenly had very little trouble imagining him as the pilot of the powerful Launcher Rapier that he had disembarked from. "For your sake, I hope you've already got one. Or Maria will probably have had her way with you before the night is through."

"And just what's that suppose to mean, old man?!" Maria demanded, somehow seeming even lovelier than she had been when she was merely being flirtatious. "I ain't no slut!"

"Never mind those two," Luna said, quickly recapturing the Coordinator's wandering eyes. "They're always like that. Anyway, I was hoping we could discuss some matters in private. Several my colleagues' informants have come across some rather puzzling information…I think you might know a fair deal more than we do."

Quickly reviewing his options, Akira nodded slightly before he barked out to the gathered individuals. "Alright, but _no one_ goes near _my_ Gundam when _I'm_ not present!" After receiving a chorus of affirmatives, Luna quickly dismissed the large crowd to carry on with their normal post-battle routines of repairing and rearming the mobile suits and warship.

Luna led Akira through a brief maze of corridors into the heart of the _Liberator_ with Maria and the other two Rapier pilots following behind them. Even if he hadn't found himself helplessly in love with that pink-haired angel from his fragmented memory, Akira knew that he wouldn't have appreciated Maria's attentions. They had scarcely traveled four meters out of the hangar and towards the Captain's quarters when the young woman had latched herself upon Akira's arm, rubbing her breasts into his arm and she cooed sweet nothings into his ear. It was a great relief to Akira when Carter, the Launcher Rapier's pilot, finally pried the sultry lady off him. The Sword Rapier pilot, a somewhat obese man called simply Yoshi, hadn't spoken a word and merely followed in silence.

Once they were inside Luna's office, Akira came to a stop just in front of her desk as she took a seat behind it. The other pilots also seated themselves in the other chairs of the room and settled into easy silence as they awaited the conversation to come.

"Clearly, you guys all know who I am and have some idea of what I want to do," Akira said slowly. "But just who are you and what are your goals?"

"I guess you could call us 'crusaders,'" Luna said, gazing up at Akira from behind her desk. "When we saw you battling against the Alliance, freeing countries and people who were wrongly being oppressed, we became inspired to do the same, in our own way. So the lot of us banded together, gathering supplies, personnel, and contacts wherever we could. It actually took a full month for us to even get into a halfway recognizable militia."

"So you're a small army of Naturals fighting to takedown the Alliance?" Akira asked, his voice once again strictly neutral.

"Whoever said anything about taking down the Alliance?" Maria asked from behind him, earning a glance from the young man.

"I do not pretend to know what the reasons of many of our men are," Luna said, regaining Akira's attention once again. "But I can state with certainty that all of us want nothing more than peace between Earth and the PLANTs, Naturals and Coordinators. And though I'm sure many of us would like to side with ZAFT at this point, that no longer seems like the best course of action anymore."

"Why is that?" Akira asked curiously.

"I believe this war is nearly over," Luna said quietly, earning stares of everyone in the room. "Oh, I know there are still quite a few bloody battles yet to be fought. But the spirit of the Alliance, its need to eradicate the Coordinators, is practically nonexistent anymore. That ZAFT warship, the _Minerva_, is a major player in this situation. But it pales in comparison to what you've been doing since before this war even started. The only people still fighting are those who still feel hatred and those who simply live to follow orders."

"…You still haven't answered my question, though," Akira pointed out. "Just what are your goals? How do you plan to attain peace?"

"Once everyone is fed up with fighting, the war will simply end," a cold voice said from behind Akira. Glancing back, he saw that it was Yoshi who'd spoken.

"If that's true," Akira said, sending stern glare at the man. "Then why hasn't fighting and war ended centuries ago? Weren't people tired of killing way back then too?"

"Wars come and go," Yoshi said. "People die and people are born. It is a never-ending cycle that will forever continue as long as humanity exists. That is the one thing humanity excels at."

"Humanity is more than a killing machine, despite how good at it we've recently become," Akira growled.

"We're getting off track here," Luna said, interrupting the argument before it could further escalate. Rotating her chair around, the elderly woman held up a remote and activated a screen that was hanging behind her. "This is the reason that I asked you to come here, Mr. Iyadomi. Like I stated earlier, several of our informants have recently come across this data, but we have been unable to determine exactly what the Alliance plans to do with it."

Akira couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen as his blood suddenly ran ice cold. On the screen before him were copies of a mobile suit that he'd truly hoped with all his heart and soul that he'd managed to destroy two years ago. Back when he'd purged the ZAFT and Earth Forces defense networks. This particular project had been at the top of the list of the ones he never wanted to see put into production. But there it was.

The GFAS-X1 Destroy had been completed!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**December 29, 74 CE  
**_**Great White**_**, **_**Agamemnon**_**-class warship  
8:30am**

In the vast darkness of space, only a short day's travel from the small asteroid factory they so desperately desired, was a sizable fleet of pirates. Despite the considerable size of their guild, their warship numbers were fairly low; only a total of ten. However, the collective firepower between their various warship models made them some of the most ferocious pirates around. This deadly group went by the name of the Blood Fins.

"How reliable is this transmission, Westerfer?" Commander Sansui demanded.

"Very, sir," the reasonably young man answered immediately despite listening closely to whatever he was hearing in his headphones. "There is no mistaking it. The Junk Guild is in communication with the colony… negotiating a meeting time… Two days from now…at the colony itself!"

For just a moment, Sansui could hardly believe his ears. Did those high-society, wannabe-pirates that made up the mockery of a crew that was the Peresphone's Children really believe that they were safe enough to resume their earlier trades?! Sure, they may have been able to repel all prior attacks on that precious colony and even more precious factory. It had been bound to make them overconfident, as this was now clearly the proof and the break his vicious crew had been waiting for!

"Captain!" Sansui barked, turning away from Westerfer. "Contact the _Speartooth_ and _Hooktooth_. Tell them they're doing a Priority Code Epsilon. And inform the fleet we're heading out in two days, Code Upsilon attack pattern. We'll show those arrogant assholes what _real_ pirates are like!"

"Yes sir!"

**

* * *

**

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE) **Whew, that was killer! Even though I'd committed myself to writing this ambush, I had absolute zero inspiration to write and even less idea of _how_ I wanted it to play out. Oh sure, I knew what I wanted to ultimately happen, just not how. And now that I've got this deadweight off my back, I can't even begin to describe how _light_ I feel now! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as well as the numerous things that have occurred. I wonder if any of you can guess where I got the idea for the 'Hands of Freedom'. Blame yourselves for getting me interested enough in it to use a few more ideas from it!

Epsilon—5th letter of the Greek alphabet  
Persephone—daughter of the Greek goddess of a bountiful harvest  
Upsilon—20th letter of the Greek alphabet


	17. Persephone's Children

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 17: Persephone's Children_

**January 1, 74 CE  
Residential District, Mathilde Colony  
7:09am**

The man known as Captain Jonas Brimfield sat in the office section of his room in the residential district of the colony. He was silently reviewing the short list of supplies he was hoping to trade or sell to the representatives of the Junk Guild. The supplies were just mobile suit frames, engine thrusters, and discarded weaponry, most of which had been repaired at some point. Unsurprisingly, repaired artifacts tended to sell for much more than their unrepaired counterparts.

At that thought, Brimfield let a small smirk cross his lips. Even though the _Early Harvest_ was first and foremost a pirate ship, the crew and him spent more time salvaging among junk yards and old battlefields and fixing their prizes into working condition than their 'partners' in the Junk Guild did. In fact during the previous Valentine War, the _Early Harvest_ had received numerous requests from the Guild to officially enlist among their ranks because of the fact that pirating in space during the war was far from being a very wise decision. That was actually the reason why pirate raids had slightly dwindled in that recent past, save for a few hardcore pirate fleets and organizations like Serpent Tail. Of course, Brimfield had refused every single request graciously.

Glancing at his watch, Jonas realized that it was almost time for the Junk Guild representative to be arriving. He quickly climbed out of his chair and gathered up his notes and other necessary documents. As he exited his room and walked leisurely down the hallway towards the radio terminal next to the conveyor belt that would shuttle him at several times the normal walking speed, he plucked up the speaker. Quickly punching in his ID code, the colony intercom system whined to life for a moment before he spoke up. "Attention, crew. The Junk Guild representatives will be arriving shortly. You know your duty stations. Get to work!"

That was the thing that Brimfield appreciated most about his crew. Unlike many other pirates, where loyalty is measured only by the amount of profit they bring in or by some common goal (usually revenge or hatred of someone or something), the _Early Harvest_ crew functioned like a community. There were those who disliked or distrusted someone, they would get into fights and petty squabbles, and they tended to have to work very hard for long hours with no apparent payment. Yet, in the end when they went to bed in the evening, it was a common but generally overlooked fact that they trusted one another as annoying neighbors and fellow employees do. Brimfield had taken them in and offered them a source of income and a life style that was usually only marginally dangerous. In a sense, this made them all a big family living under the roof of the _Early Harvest_. It was this feeling of being a part of a community that made them operate at levels far above most pirates.

Ironically, it was their strict rules and policies towards the other pirates they occasionally interacted with that set them apart from the others. Where most pirates liked to only train their people enough to be effective enough in combat, the _Early Harvest_ emphasized on the most rigorous training regime outside of a standard army and demanded _absolute discipline_. Most of them were nothing short of perfect professionals in their respective fields. And it was also how they somehow acquired a nickname among the other pirate factions. It was a name that Brimfield couldn't help but shake his head and snort at the irony of it. If only they truly understood what it meant, the original creators of the derogative slang probably wouldn't have used it to describe them! He had once explained it to Akira and the boy had actually collapsed from lack of oxygen because he had been laughing so hard.

That thought brought Brimfield to a slightly complicated series of emotions. On one hand, he missed the boy like a father would miss his long-lost son. Though news of the happenings of Earth and the war was far from being up to date or reliably unbiased towards one faction or the other, he was still able to see a growing effect that Akira was causing. He was giving the citizens of Eurasia a sense of hope thanks to his unrequited aid towards them. Akira was fighting for a much higher goal than simply ending the war, just as Brimfield had suspected he would when he left long ago. The boy had taken his lessons of morals, justice, and life to heart. For that, he was very proud of the boy and he actually almost wouldn't mind trying to help him in some way.

On the other hand, things were finally starting to become much more dangerous. The Alliance and ZAFT were likely now starting to actively hunt him down. And though Akira could fight off twenty enemies by himself, not even he would likely last long against a full-on battle against the combined might of the two enemy militaries. In Brimfield's opinion, the Neo Freedom's final destruction was approaching rapidly. And regardless of whether Akira died with it or not, it would ultimately all be for naught if the people of Earth and the PLANTs let themselves forget just what the Gundam and its pilot had been fighting for in the first place. And one certainly didn't need to be a genius to figure it out at this point.

So despite as much as he wanted to help the boy, he also wasn't about to send any of his people off to fight a battle that they'd ultimately lose. Plus, hardly any of them held much loyalty towards their homelands anymore anyway. Besides, of his entire supply of available mobile suits and transports he could've possibly sent, only the new X-units would've been really helpful to the boy's cause. However, none of their pilots had even effectively field-tested them yet. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that Lieutenants Dalen and Henry were still fine-tuning the OS even as he rode the conveyor belt towards the port district.

If the boy were smart, he'd locate and join up with the _Archangel_. At least that way he'd have some allies who mirrored his goals and could adequately support him in the coming dark days. However, he was also sure that Akira would stubbornly refuse aid from anyone in his quest to continue his lone crusade. It would likely have to be force-fed down his throat before he finally relented; he was stubborn in that way.

With a resigned sigh, Brimfield pushed those thoughts out of his head. Now wasn't the time for those, not when he had a potentially profitable sale to make to his Junk Guild partners.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Communications Tower, Port District**

"_**Early Harvest**_, _this_ _is the __**Rust Bucket**__ of the Junk Guild, do you copy?_" a distorted voice spoke up over the communications. The space freighter that was gently approaching was just an old _Marseille III_-class, minimally armed or armored.

"This is Mathilde Colony Tower Control," Brad, the radio receiver, responded as he carefully studied the broadcasting frequency of the approaching cargo ship. There seemed to be a fluctuation in the beginning portion of the wave pattern. Perhaps there was something wrong with their communications equipment? That would account for the static that was filling the radio. "We have you on radar. Please cut your engines at distance 2,000 and await confirmation of identification codes."

"_Roger, cutting engines and awaiting confirmation_," the broadcaster responded after a brief delay.

As the receiver began to run the codes through the computer, he let out a small sigh while sipping his coffee. They really needed to get some newer brands because this gunk they had in store was just atrocious! Honestly, you'd think that some of the other crewmembers would be of the same opinion.

A chime from his monitor drew his attention to the approaching freighter. "_Rust Bucket_, please cut your engines and await confirmation of your identification codes."

"_Roger that, cutting engines and awaiting confirmation_," the broadcaster responded.

Looking out through the reinforced window of his tower, Brad absentmindedly waited for his computer to finish confirming the codes. It was taking slightly longer than was usual, but with an old freight like the _Marseille III_-class, it was a forgivable error because there were so many of them in existence. From his respectably-high vantage point above the colony in his communications tower, he could effectively see the entire port district of Mathilde.

The Mathilde Colony was segmented into three separate but connected divisions; the port, the residential area, and the factory district. In times past, the colony had only been lightly guarded with only a dozen automated CIWS batteries throughout the colony's layout. Since the _Early Harvest_ and Captain Brimfield had commandeered it, they had been steadily and efficiently replacing and upgrading those pathetic defenses to something much more formidable. The factory and port areas were now protected by numerous batteries of warship-grade beam cannons, missile launchers, and quite a few more CIWS. In contrast, the residential area was covered mostly by CIWS and a few missile launchers to minimize the chance of crippling friendly fire and the deaths of the unprepared crewmen and their families.

This new, revamped version of the colony that Brad and many others had been calling home for the past few years offered respectably formidable defenses. These defenses had often helped the families to get a few much-needed restful nights of sleep after the repeated pirate attacks in the past few weeks. Those weren't the only new defenses that formed around the colony in recent times. Thanks to the numerous attacks, there was now a surprisingly extensive debris field scattered around the asteroid, effectively blocking the colony from most attacking forces. The only location that this new debris field had been cleared away was the area directly above the spaceport.

A louder warning chime drew Brad back to the present. The _Rust Bucket_ was so close to the port doors that he could actually see it unimpeded from his tower.

"_Rust Bucket_, cut your engines and return to distance 2000 or we will open fire!" he said, speaking in a slightly-panicked tone. "_Rust Bucket_, do you copy?! You're on a collision course with the port hangar!"

"_Roger that, you Persephone scum_," the broadcaster said in a cold voice.

It was only at that moment that Brad saw that the Junk Guild's emblem upon the hull of the freighter was a fake. The color scheme was a shade too dark and rumpled, as though it were hurriedly draped over the side of the ship to cover up something else.

Before he could react, a hidden compartment on the freighter suddenly opened and a pair of large beam cannons appeared. They took quick aim up at his tower and fired. Just before the large green beams reduced the tower to debris and killed Brad, he had managed to hit the emergency alarm button. Unfortunately, he didn't have the power or authority to activate the defenses.

The faux-_Rust Bucket_ therefore met no resistance as it blasted the hangar doors open.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Internal Conveyor Belt, Port District  
7:15am**

Although the asteroid itself was quite large and the colony had been separated into different areas to minimize potentially dangerous accidents, the force of the explosion had sent a gentle tremble through the large space rock. And though space silenced the explosion and channeled off a great deal of the immediate shockwaves, an almost unnoticeable rumble could be faintly heard from where he was presently riding the conveyor belt towards the port. At near the same moment, the alarms sounded; klaxons dropped into view in the many rooms and hallways with their fierce red lights flashing angrily as an obnoxiously blaring siren rang to life.

Deeply ingrained battle instincts quickly switched the Captain out of his previous businessman's mindset into that of a battle-hardened military commander. Tucking his folder under his arm, he launched himself into a furious sprint down the remaining stretch of the conveyor belt. Reaching the end of the belt, he dashed to the side, up to another one of the colony intercoms. Punching his code again, he brought up several security camera feeds of the exterior of the port.

Thanks to the magnified images, he was able to see what had apparently caused the alarm. An old _Marseille III_ with large pieces of cloth draped over its sides showing a now clearly-visible fake Junk Guild emblem was floating just inside the threshold of the primary hangar. Even as he watched, a small flare of light became visible. This explosion was considerably louder than the previous. Switching to an interior camera, Brimfield almost let loose a howl of rage. They'd destroyed his beloved ship's engines! They were going to _pay_ for that…

Rapidly recomposing himself, he studied the image closer. The faux-freighter had opened several hidden compartments, allowing armored infantry and five mobile suits to exit. An invasion? If so, there'd be no chance that this ship was operating by itself. It must have friends nearby.

Switching back to an exterior camera, he did a quick search of the space around them. But there didn't seem to be any—there they were! They were still a good ways off, but he'd been able to spot them thanks to the faint glow of their engines and the unnatural coloring they had against the background of space. He couldn't tell what they were, yet one was clearly an _Agamemnon_-class among them.

This was about to get very ugly, _very_ quickly.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Residential District  
15 minutes earlier…**

"_It hurts…it hurts… It __**hurts!!**__" a young voice managed to yell out between excruciating waves of agony. The young boy didn't know how long he'd been surrounded by the blackness, but the pain he was experiencing seemed to have existed for as long as he could remember. But even as horrifically agonizing as the pain was, he was still slightly aware of certain things going on around him, namely to two men standing nearby, watching over his thrashing form._

"_Number EC 0454 continues to experience heightened pain in response to the SS-enhancement treatment we have administered to it," an uncaring voice suddenly spoke up from somewhere beyond the realm of darkness. It was muffled, as though speaking from behind a barrier of some sort._

"_I see," said another voice. "This is most unfortunate. We shall have to alter our plans for the eradication of those filthy space monsters."_

"_Indeed, Captain," the first man admitted. "And it truly is disappointing that this project seems to have run into a dead end. I suppose the common Coordinator just isn't compatible with our enhancement treatments. But to only have discovered this little setback after such extensive research and training of the subjects…it's **extremely** disappointing."_

'_**What are they talking about?**__' he couldn't help but wonder between spasms of his pain._

"_Yes, I had been quite looking forward to the possibility of commanding a team of enhanced Coordinator super soldiers to exterminate their own kind. A truly bittersweet irony if that situation had occurred."_

"_Yes sir," the first man acknowledged once again uncaringly. "If we can continue to receive the proper funding for our projects, I will have our chief engineers and scientists redesign and enhance the neural implants and enhancement drugs immediately."_

"_Very well then," the Captain agreed. "However, if you fail us once again, we will take matters into our own hands, Doctor Strum… As for these new dropouts, dispose of them."_

'_**Dispose of…?**__' he questioned himself. '__**Doesn't that mean…get rid of? Throw away? Destroy? Kill? Death?!'**_

"_Yes sir, Captain Sutherland," Doctor Strum replied, not caring in the least._

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!" he screamed as his eyes snapped open and he simultaneously leapt to his feet, sending his bedspread billowing outwards in his panicked rush. After a frantic moment of searching, Charles 'Goldie' Goldsboro finally remembered where he was and why. Letting out a long, deep sigh, he dropped back onto his bed and rubbed his face as he attempted to fight back the lingering memory and phantom pains.

He had only been four years old when they'd kidnapped him, brought him to that _accursed_ place, assigned him a codename and number, and put him through those horrendous tests and training. They had tried and failed to brainwash him and alter his body through the use of drugs in an attempt to control him. Then they'd started trying to control his mind directly with those 'implants'. Throughout it all, he fought against them in what ways he could until that fateful day arrived.

Even with all the agony that they'd already put him through, the last thing he wanted to happen was to be killed like another unsatisfactory experiment reject. He wanted to return home to his mother, father, and two elder sisters back in Martius 5. He wanted to visit his aunt, uncle, and cousins in Sextilis 9. He missed them all dearly. He was sure that they were worried about him because he had gone missing mere days before his birthday. So when he managed to overhear the Captain person and Dr. Strum, something inside him had snapped. He was going to return home no matter what it took! Thus when the doctors had come to deliver him his dinner rations, _most_ _likely poisoned_, he attacked mercilessly. He was just a few months short of being fifteen when he fought his way to freedom and was somehow able to make his way back to the PLANTs.

'_Only to find that your family had all died in a __**tragic accident**__ the same day that he'd disappeared_,' Charley remarked snidely at Goldie's current morbid thoughts.

With nowhere else to go and feeling the terrible weight of being completely alone and isolated, Goldie had headed straight to the spaceport. Without his family, what was the point of continuing to live on in this cold, uncaring world? Had he not run into a certain man on his way towards the airlock, Goldie would've died that day for certain.

But now he was here, on the Mathilde Colony as a member of the _Early Harvest_ pirate crew and the pilot of one of their first original Gundam models produced. And he would continue to use all his laboratory-gained skills to make the Captain proud since he had given him a new home, a new family, and a new life!

His morning ritual of reaffirming his resolve to that goal had scarcely been completed when the blaring, flashing alarms suddenly sounded through his small apartment. _Another attack?!_ Leaping to his feet, he practically jumped into his flight suit and rushed out his door within mere moments of the alarm sounding. He was quickly joined in the hallways by a literal wave of running pirates and crewmembers as they rushed into their own spacesuits, snapping on helmets, and running towards the most likely location that the attack was taking place as they took up various weapons of death and destruction.

Goldie had actually been mere meters from entering the flood upon the conveyor belt when he heard the Captain's order for him to launch. That could only one thing.

'_Oh, this is going to be fun!'_ Charley cheered, already feeling the anticipation for the slaughter that was to come.

However, from this location, it would take him a while to reach the factory hangar.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Factory District  
7:18am**

Two of the pilots of the new X-units were already residing within the cockpits of their respective mobile suits. Unlike their third companion, these two could easily be described as early birds.

Lieutenant Henry Siemer sat in the cockpit of his newly-assigned mobile suit, the EHG-X1 Courage. He was currently double-checking the calibrations of the weapon's targeting scopes. The X1 was a long-range support unit and he didn't want any of his shots to be off by so much as a _centimeter_.

Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen, on the other hand, was whistling to himself softly as his fingers flew across the keyboard, working on the OS for the mobile suit recently assigned to him by Captain Brimfield. He was doing some refining on the operating system since it was still fresh off the assembly line and it wasn't quite suitable for space warfare. It wouldn't do anyone any good if the mobile suit was jerky and he became sick to the stomach from excessive and rocky movements.

In fact, that very experience had happened once when he was a rookie and training in his first mobile suit. Some idiot back in the Academy who had been using it previously tried to be smart and messed with the controls without anyone knowing. So when it was his turn, the reaction speeds were way too fast and he found himself losing control of the machine within the first minute. And after about five minutes of stumbling and tumbling, he'd vomited inside his cockpit during a combat simulation before finally coming to a crash. He had spent the next five hours cleaning the cockpit, and the next year as the Academy's laughing stock. Definitely _not_ a pleasant experience.

He sighed as he smiled at the memory as he continued to work. As embarrassing as that was, he had come to terms with it a long time ago, now able to smile himself about it. It was nothing compared to... he didn't even want to think about _that day_. But to say he had been surprised when the Captain had presented the mobile suit to him would be an understatement.

It nearly turned his stomach.

Being the professional soldier he had been, he hid his initial reaction well. He had merely nodded, replied 'Yes Captain' with a salute. He often wondered why the Captain had chosen him to pilot this machine. His..._discomfort_...with mobile suits wasn't exactly a secret with the _Early Harvest_ crew, though the reasons why were. Perhaps that's why Brimfield had chosen him to pilot it; make him come to terms with his past and finally move on.

He blew through his nose and continued working, whistling another of Miss Clyne's songs. Music always seemed to help relax him. Sometimes it was the only way he was able to fall asleep at times, especially back in the early days. Half the time, he didn't know whether to consider Brimfield a genius or a proverbial bastard. He was truly gifted to be able to lead an operation of this magnitude, and run it successfully at that. Though he was a bastard because he was never direct and always let his actions speak for him. The problem was that those actions almost never meant what you would think they did.

So far, he had gotten out of operating a mobile suit since he had been with Brimfield by working on the _Early Harvest _itself (typically commanding the CIC) or leading missions like the raid on that Earth Alliance lunar base. And now nearly three years after his departure from ZAFT, he was back in a mobile suit.

The former FAITH agent bent over and began working on the next set of computer equations and matrices when the base alarms began ringing at once. Looking up from what he was doing, he felt the urge to groan. Yet another attack. Most likely a pirate attack again. Though... he couldn't help but consider the timing. They had been expecting to be meeting with members of the Junk Guild for several goods. This seemed like too much of a coincidence for both to happen at once.

"_Attention all hands."_ Dalen's head jerked upward as he pushed aside his computer and got out of the seat, standing in the open cockpit as he looked outward in the factory. To the side, he saw Henry partially climbing out of his X1 Courage. However, Goldie was nowhere to be seen as the X3 Loyalty remained undisturbed on his opposite side.

"_We've been deceived."_ Brimfield's voice was echoing through the factory. "_The ship in the hangar is __**not**__ of the Junk Guild! They've already taken the hangar and are working on towards the factory and residential area. All hands are to mobilize and repel them! Lieutenants Siemer, Bertelsen, and Goldie: __**launch immediately!**_"

"You heard the captain! Let's move, people!" shouted Lieutenant Henry Siemer as he stepped into his role of combat commander.

Dalen merely nodded to himself as he jumped back into his seat as the cockpit slammed shut. He began the boot up process, the Neutron Jammer Canceller coming online.

"Dalen, you take care of the port. I'll handle the residential area," came Henry's voice in the Honor's systems.

"Copy that," the former FAITH agent replied as he returned to his task. He just hoped this didn't end badly, already imagines from_ that day_ were appearing in his mind.

Shoving them to the side, he finished his preparations for his new Gundam, the EHG-X2 Honor. Simultaneously, all the power cords plugged into the pair of powering up mobile suits disconnected as the harnesses disengaged. The two machines took a few careful steps outward, free of all restraints for the first time ever. Dalen had his machine give Siemer the thumbs up, while the Courage nodded in reply. With that, its engines ignited as the Courage made its way out the factory entrance into the cold emptiness of space.

The man just watched his comrade for a few seconds before making his way to the port. The Honor was a close combat melee type, so it only made sense for him to be the one to retake the port. He was far less likely to cause any collateral in the hangar than either Siemer or Goldie's machines. In a way, he was grateful for that since he didn't want to be the one worrying about the others in the residential area and was very thankful that Henry had that job.

On the other hand, the Captain would have his hide if he made a mess of the port.

He chose to take the interior route because his number one priority was to retake the hangar, preferably undamaged. If he had taken an exterior route, it would mean disabling warships and weapons before he could concentrate on the port itself, an action that would give him away and make his task all the more difficult. In his opinion, the wiser course was for him to sneak in and secure the hangar then deal with the remaining forces outside.

Besides... he figured Henry and the Courage would take out those obstacles on his way to the residential area.

The Lieutenant made his way to the rear corner of the factory, where a small assembly line was located. The original colonists had used this line as a means of transporting goods directly from the factory to the port. If he was quick, he would be able to use this to get to the port before the enemy could secure the area and lock it down.

Dalen flipped a switch and activated the Mirage Collide as the Honor made its way through the passageway. Already he could hear the sounds of battle raging outside the base. Quickening his pace, he soon found himself at the port exit. He slowed his speed considerably, lest his footsteps of all things gave him away. Staying close to the walls, Dalen looked around the shaft corner and into the hangar.

The hangar itself was large enough to hold about three _Laurasia_-class warships side by side, though the exit was only wide enough to permit one ship through at a time. There were four vessels inside the hangar right now: the _Early Harvest _itself, as well as three shuttles. To the far left were about a dozen EH mobile suits awaiting deployment and Dalen knew full well that there were forty more on the ship itself. Looking around, he saw that a _Marseille III_-class freighter blocking the entrance with its bulk, preventing anything from entering or leaving the port, save for the open hatch on the side. There were several EH crew member's lying dead on the ground through the port, no doubt the ones that were to greet the "Junk Guild" and were the first to receive the nasty surprise. About twenty or so other enemy men and women were roaming around the hangar, weapons ready and looking for trouble as they professionally scouted the hangar.

It was a common enough tactic: send a small group foremost to secure the area, and then allow the mobile suits and remaining troops to land safely. ZAFT had done the same thing with the raid on Heliopolis.

There were five enemy mobile suits in the hangar already, acting much like sentries. Three Strike Daggers, one GuAIZ and one ZAKU. One each of their shoulders had an emblem of a blood red Shark fin.

The Blood Fins. He knew about them. All of the _Early Harvest _personal had. It was another pirate group. A collection of war criminals, renegades and deserters, comprised of both Coordinators and Naturals and one of the more aggressive pirate groups as they always left a great deal of bloodshed. It was something Captain Brimfield did not condone himself, as he valued life and people greatly. Though that did not mean he wasn't above issuing execution orders to those who needlessly or savagely abused their power over others. It was his policy towards raiding nation's ships and stealing to do was to do as minimal damage as possible until the ship's surrender as well as to take as few lives as possible.

Pirates, however, were another story. As far as Brimfield was concerned, it was an eye for an eye, but he always made a point of making other pirates 'throw the first punch first'. And all those under Brimfield followed that same policy.

Dalen took several deep breaths as he willed himself to stay focused on what he was supposed to do. Refocusing upon the situation in the hangar, he noticed to his slight dismay that the _Early Harvest_'sengines and weapon turrets had been blown off. The ship itself wasn't going to be much use then. Against his better nature, his eyes drifted back to the foot soldiers patrolling around and his heart sank a bit when three of them were making their way to the docked mobile suits.

Instinctively, he had the Honor pull out the beam assault rifle stored on the rear wrist. He aimed the weapon at the three men, knowing he couldn't allow them to enter their own mobile suits and add to the enemy numbers. And immediately, the memories came back.

_He had been part of Operation Spitbreak and the attack on JOSH-A, piloting a DINN. With the _Duel_, Dalen had been among the first to breach the Main Gate of the Earth Forces Headquarters. It was thanks to pure luck that he had survived what so many of his friends and colleges had not. After successfully breaching the Main Gate, he found himself critically low on fuel and ammo, prompting him to return to a __**Vosgulov**_ _submarine for refueling and reloading. That act had saved him from the base's detonation as the submarine was far enough away it was able to clear the blast radius._

_Like the rest of the survivors, he had been burning with rage at all who had perished as a result and was eager for payback. So when it was announced they were going to strike Panama with the surviving forces in an attempt to 'ground' the Earth Alliance on the planet, he was all for it just like everyone else. He had lost a brother and a sister, as well as many close friends as a result of the blast and he was perfectly ready to return the favor to the Natural scum tenfold! Never mind it was practically a suicide mission, it was a necessity and he was prepared to give it all for revenge!_

_So they had attacked Panama, only to find that they had mass produced their own mobile suits – the Strike Daggers – and met the ZAFT force head on. While the Naturals piloting the new machines were laughable, the Strike Dagger's tech and weaponry were actually superior to that of ZAFT's mobile suits. But with experienced in the ZAFT mobile suits, it made the fighting relatively even. Yet with the added firepower from the Earth Force's standard tanks, batteries and other factors, defeat would have surely come to the ZAFT forces. Fortunately, they had planned for a drop of Gungnirs to disable the Alliance's forces and it worked perfectly._

… _too... perfectly..._

_The entirety of the Earth Forces were disabled, the ZAFT forces began slaughtering the defenseless and surrendering EA troops. While a handful of people, the _Duel _included, did not take part in this action virtually everyone else did and did it gleefully._

_And to his eternal shame, former Commander Dalen Bertelsen participated as well._

_At first... it haven't even registered what he was doing. He just had the chance for revenge he was waiting for and took it gleefully. Towards the end of his own rampage, he turned around to bask in what he had done... and his face fell in horror._

_The sight of so many people dead the ground slapped him in the face hard, like waking up someone from a dream to reality. All the destroyed lives he had just ended hit him harder than he thought possible and each life had been defenseless, with many surrendering themselves. It wasn't like in combat; where one was trying to kill you and you had to kill back in order to survive. This was... there was no excuse for this... there number of bodies lingering on the ground easily numbered into the triple digits... each one had pleaded for mercy, begged to be spared and wept when he ignored them and fired upon them anyway. _

_That's when the radio had kicked on, and he heard his follow soldier's statements._

"_HA! HA! HA! Serves you right! Are your toys broken!?"_

"_Hanna was at Alaska, this is for her!"_

"_We're not taking any Naturals prisoner!"_

_Subconsciously, he had taken off his helmet, as if not believing what he was hearing. Not wanting to believe that just mere moments earlier, he had been saying very similar words. Yet more and more such statements came from the different men and women there were committing these atrocities…and laughing while doing so! In a desperate attempt to shut out what was going on outside, he flipped the radio to any other channel, just so he wouldn't have to hear anymore!_

"_To the last soldier our defense forces fought heroically!" came a Natural news reporter. "The destruction of JOSH-A and the sorrow that accompanied that loss will forever be marked in history as a day of infamy. But despite this loss, we shall never submit to them. What right do the Coordinators have to threaten the security of our skies? The sacrifice that was made was immense, however; we must overcome this great loss and overcome our enemies where ever we may find them! We must gather our strength and fight against the arrogant Coordinators in order to protect the peace, the security and the future of Earth!"_

_Dalen knew this broadcast well; the Atlantic Federation had been broadcasting it repeatedly since the fall of JOSH-A. Already he could see the TV images of the massive crater were the base had once been, the lingering bodies of the countless soldiers littering the ground, all the hospital shots of the injured survivors with many shots focusing on young children to emphasis the point. When he first saw it, he dismissed it, knowing the real purpose was to just inflame the Natural population with lies and half truths of the "Space Monsters"._

_But now... those imagines of the dead and injured were flooding into his mind. He just added to that death toll for no reason at all! And for what!? To prove that they were Space Monsters after all!? To become the very things that the Naturals and Blue Cosmos were labeling them!?_

_For the second time in his life, he vomited inside the cockpit of his mobile suit. At the same instance, the DINN inexplicably dropped the rifle in it's hand, the weapon falling to the ground with a clang._

_Monster... monster... monster... monster... monster... __**monster**__..._

_**MONSTER!!!**_

_**WHAT HAD HE DONE!?!**_

_He gave a cry right there as he reached for his side arm and blasted the radio with two shots, not caring how stupid a move like that was. He immediately turned the DINN around and took off from Panama, flying into the air to get himself as far away from the death and carnage as he could. He flew for who knew how long, pushing the mobile suit to just keep on going and going. Eventually, the DINN began running out of power and he half landed, half crashed in a forest of Coast Rica._

Bertelsen shook his head, forcing out the memories. _Stay focused on the job, idiot. Now's not the time to zone out! _Giving his head another shake, he focused on the three men approaching the EH mobile suits. Shooting three men in the back like this was way too close to what happened in Panama. _Just move along... move along... don't make me shoot..._

He breathed a sigh of relief as the three men moved on. Seems they were just making sure the mobile suits were empty. They weren't going to commandeer them... yet. He put his rifle back as he glad he wouldn't have to shoot men like that. It went without saying he would give _anything_ to go back and undo that horrible sin he had committed during Panama.

He went back to surveying, noting the weaponry on each machine. The Strike Daggers had their standard shield, beam rifle, and beam saber. The GuAIZ was equipped with two beam rifles, beam claws on its shield and vulcan cannons. The ZAKU had four grenades, likely a beam tomahawk in its shield, and was carrying a beam bazooka.

That ZAKU had to been taken out first. Its weaponry would be the most destructive to the port. The GuAIZ would have to be next. If he took those two machines out, the three Strike Daggers should provide only minimal difficulty.

He needed surprise on his side to do so, so that meant taking an action he really did not want to do, but he couldn't afford to let his personal feelings get in the way. If he didn't act by surprise, the hangar would be damaged. Breathing into his stomach, he carefully walked across the hangar, moving as quietly as he could. Given the battle raging outside, it wasn't too hard especially with the Mirage Collide active.

Once he was close to the ZAKU, he took the Honor's beam rifle in the left hand and one of his "Folding Razor" anti-armor knives with his right hand. Carefully, he aimed the rifle at the GuAIZ as he held the knife close to the ZAKU's thruster engine.

Instantly, he fired a shot at the GuAIZ cockpit while simultaneously shoving the knife into the engine of the ZAKU as his Mirage Collide deactivated. The GuAIZ blew up immediately, the pilot unable to react at all to the surprise attack. The knife cut through the ZAKU's engine, causing an overload within the machine. Abandoning the knife, he threw the damaged ZAKU as hard as he could towards the freighter blocking the entrance. Using his now free right hand, he grabbed one of his two "Flash-Edge" beam boomerangs and threw it towards one of the Strike Daggers as all three of them now realized what was going on. The beam boomerang cut through the waist of the nearest Dagger while the ZAKU collapsed a short distance towards the freighter, exploding.

The explosion, with all those grenades, was surprisingly quite big. The entire bow section shook from the shockwaves as the freighter rocked from the force, small fires breaking out all on the ship.

By this time, the other two Daggers held up their beam rifles and opened fired on him. He held up his right arm where his small shield was attached to block the shots. Putting his rifle away, he grabbed one of the massive half swords "Claymore" from his back. Accelerating the Honor, he took off towards the two Blood Fin units too quickly for them to properly respond. He slammed into one of the Strike Daggers with his shield, sending it crashing to the ground. He quickly turned around and slashed down through the other Dagger, chopping it in half as it exploded. The Dagger on the ground attempted to shoot again, but Dalen had the Honor kick the rifle out of the hand and stepped down hard on the cockpit. A second later, the Claymore stabbed the downed mobile suit, destroying it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several of the foot soldiers now rushing forward in an attempt to board the EH units. Ignoring his stomach doing several flips, he fired a single shot from his vulcan guns mounted on his chest. The shot hit just a meter in front of the men, stopping them in their tracks.

"I wouldn't do that," he said, speaking through the Honor's systems. He did his best to sound impassive and cold. "This is the only warning you get. Try that again, and I won't miss. If you want to live, I suggest you stand down and—"

He was cut off as his machine rocked from an impact as he turned around and looked at the source. To his disbelief, he saw the first Strike Dagger – the one he had thrown the beam boomerang at – was still active. Apparently, he hadn't hit the cockpit when he thrown the weapon, so the upper body was still active. Even if it couldn't move.

He gave a silent curse at the oversight of not confirming the destruction of that mobile suit. The Dagger fired another shot at him and he moved the Honor out of the way as he hurled the Claymore sword directly at the Blood Fin machine. The beam continued on its path and struck one of the shuttles, destroying it right at the same moment the Dagger exploded.

"Captain's going to skin me alive," Dalen told himself, as he turned his attention back to the foot troops. Once again they were heading to the docked mobile suits. He was about to fire when the doors burst open and several EH crewmembers bursting into the hangar, weapons firing at the invaders. The Blood Fins stopped at their attempts and took up positions as they fought back.

_Thank you, thank you, thank you! _

Very relieved he would not have to slaughter more men in a mobile suit, he took a single shot with the vulcan cannons right next to the biggest cluster of men. The shot threw them all in a panic, as they clearly expected more shots from the mobile suit. With the confusion, the EH members quickly closed in and subdued the troops.

"Secure the port as fast as you can and get those mobile suits online to provide support!" the Lieutenant's voice rang through the hangar as the remaining Blood Fins all laid down their weapons, falling on their knees and putting their hands on their heads. One of the EH gunman gave a nod in his direction, acknowledging the order, so Dalen had the Honor hurry over and recover the Claymore sword from the wreckage. Shouldering it on his back, he reached down and grabbed two of the discarded beam riles. "I'll clear the entrance."

With that, the Honor dashed off towards the damaged freighter. He rushed towards the ship's makeshift catapult, only to find a disembarking GuAIZ unit. Immediately, he raised his left rifle and shot at the thing, but it held up its shield and blocked the shot. It attempted to fire back itself, but Dalen maneuver his mobile suit right up to the thing and kicked the shield arm upright, exposing the cockpit area, which Dalen blasted with his right rifle at point blank range.

The GuAIZ mobile suit exploded as the Honor charged down the freighter, rapidly firing with his borrowed rifles. In the rain of beam energy he sent down upon the ship, portions of the hull were blown apart as the beams seared through the heavy metal. Twice, a Strike Dagger came out and attempted to stop him, but to no avail.

As Dalen was busy attacking and destroying the pirate transport ship, several of the EH mobile suits came to life, their eyes glowing menacingly in rage. Catching sight of his approaching comrades, the Lieutenant half-smiled in relief before returning his attention to his work at hand.

Once he was sure the damage he had done was critical, he tossed both rifles to the ground and reached back, grabbing both half blade Claymores from his back. Whirling them around in front, he slammed the two blades together, forming one massive sword blade. Igniting the beams around the edges of the massive Claymore blade, he gave a loud yell as he slashed through the hull as easily as a hot knife cut through butter.

He was easily able to cut himself an opening clear through the freighter and the Honor charged out into open space right as the _Marseille III_-class freighter exploded. Once the fire and shrapnel had ceased, the debris of the former ship had cleared away, revealing a mostly unblocked exit from the port. This thus allowed the other EH mobile suits to launch and support the defenses.

Seeing his job done, Dalen piloted the Honor and headed towards the remaining Blood Fin ships and mobile suits, determined to help drive them away. Checking his scanners, he saw that the Blood Fin fleet was all present at Mathilde Colony.

Upon further inspection, he realized that the fleet had broken itself into three groups and each one was focusing on one of the colony's three sections: hangar, factory and residential areas. The force that was covering the port area was of three warships: a former ZAFT _Nazca_-class and _Laurasia_-class, and an old Earth Alliance _Nelson_-class. Already their mobile armors and mobile suits were heading towards him, weapons blazing.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**Factory District  
7:21am**

Once outside, Henry activated the Courage's Mirage Colloid camouflage. Flying close to the surface of the colony to hide his heat signature, he made his way over to the residential area.

In terms of priority the residential area was the lowest on the list of the colony's three districts, having no productive value. Add in its internal framework and you have the reason why there were only a few missile launchers and CIWS guns. Being an area where there would be virtually no combatants and minimal weaponry, any _honorable_ military force would avoid damaging it. But pirates weren't known for their honor _or_ mercy. It wouldn't be beneath them to take civilians hostage. And it would be Henry's job to secure their safety.

Sure enough, once the Courage was far enough along curve of the colony he could make out the enemy forces. Their markings identifying them as members of the Blood Fins. '_Enemy combat strength confirmed. Four TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors equipped with standard linear guns and missile pods. Two GAT-02L2 Dagger L mobile suits, standard armaments, no striker packs. And finally one __**Nelson**_-_class battleship, and one __**Drake-**__class escort ship._' The enemy's obvious strategy was simple yet effective for their purposes. First use the Daggers to take out the built-in defenses. Then the _Nelson_ moves into a synchronous stationary position with its main guns trained at the colony, its weapons best suited for punching through the colony's wall. Finally the _Drake_ moves into a flanking position to protect against a possible attack from the direction of the factory district, while the Moebius and Dagger Ls split into two groups of three, one suit and two armors, that move relative north and south to guard from those areas yet can still quickly respond in case the _Drake_ is attacked.

'_A solid battle plan,'_ appraised Henry.'_They've evenly distributed their numbers to get the maximum effective defense perimeter. However they are primarily expecting an attack from the factory district where the second entrance is, and probably from only half-finished machines. But because of their men at the port, they don't expect an attack from that direction. Theoretically, their reaction time should be slower from that direction._'

Having formed his battle strategy, Henry maneuvered the Courage until it was facing the pirates from the direction of the port. Then, while still under the cover of Mirage Colloid, he opened the large shields that covered a majority of the front of his Gundam. As both the Kerberos cannons and the shoulder-mounted sniper rifle were brought up to bear, the targeting scope for the high-energy cannons came up first and centered on the _Nelson_. It and the _Drake_ were the primary targets because their weapons could do the most damage to the colony.

The scope centered on the target, the Courage positioned to face the battleship's starboard side, just a little above and before the ship. His breathing slowed ever so slightly as his mind entered what his old drill sergeant called "sniper's state." His finger on the trigger, Henry whispered a mantra taught to him by the man who trained him. "One shot, one kill." Deactivating the Mirage Colloid, he fired his first shot.

The multi-colored stream of energy shot forth, piercing both the _Nelson's_ bridge and its engine section causing the entire ship to explode spectacularly but Henry wasn't paying attention. '_Turn starboard 53 degrees, up 12 degrees_.' The cannon's scope had been replaced by the rifle's scope, its target centering in on the engines of the _Drake_. Four quick successive shots later and those engines looked rather similar to Swiss cheese. With a sniper rifle, the beams didn't have the pure destructive potential that most modern beam weaponry did. However, with its engines in such a state they would be unable to operate, meaning that the _Drake_ will be forced to hold its current position unless the law of inertia took over and carried it away from the colony.

His primary targets eliminated, Henry folded the cannons and rifle before closing the shields and flying out into the debris field away from the colony. The sudden attack had worked to his advantage in delaying the pirate's machines' counterattack, just as he'd predicted. But that surprise was over now, and the enemy mobile suits and armors were rapidly moving to attack. And Henry would prefer it if they shot into empty space instead of towards the colony.

The Courage jarred a little as linear rounds from the Moebius units impacted against the heavy shields, but with the VPS that was all that happened. Grimacing, the Lieutenant switched his mobile suit's weapons to the quadruple missile launchers. Quickly locking onto the targets, he launched a spray of Firefly missiles towards them; two for each of the suits and one for each of the armors.

The Dagger Ls countered by firing their Todesschrecken CIWS guns, each destroying both missiles flying towards them. However, lacking the defensive weapons, the Moebius units could only maneuver and dodge. Two succeeded, two did not. But his objective had not been to destroy any machines, but rather to distract them long enough for the Courage to get properly up into the debris field.

Watching from behind one of the larger chunks of charred debris, Henry lied in wait. Not knowing the direction an enemy machine might appear, he quickly switched out the emptied missile launchers in favor of the Deluge railguns. Soon enough, one of the Dagger Ls appeared to starboard, searching the field for the Courage.

Targets sighted, he fired both railguns on the Dagger. The projectiles ripped through the machines right arm and upper torso.

As the ruined mobile suit drifted off, the Courage's proximity alarms sounded and the mobile suit was rocked with explosions from behind. Swinging the mobile suit around, Henry saw the two remaining Moebius firing the rest of their missiles. Reacting quickly Henry opened the shields, unfolded the Kerberos, and fired. The large beam of energy swept through not only the missiles, but the armors as well, destroying both.

Henry refolded the cannons only for the proximity alarm to blare again, alerting him to the upcoming presence from behind. Swinging around, he saw the last Dagger charging, its shield protecting its cockpit and a beam saber in its right hand. Henry responded by pulling a beam javelin from the left Kerberos and simultaneously pulling a beam pistol from the right hip. When the Dagger struck Henry blocked with the beam javelin while using the beam pistol to shoot out the Dagger's left shoulder joint and then the head. Then Henry quickly pushed off the Dagger and shot it through the cockpit.

With all enemy targets eliminated, Henry flew the Courage back towards the colony. On the way back, he looked over his handy work and with great distaste thought, '_It's much too easy to kill when you can't see the faces of those you fight._'

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Hangar, Port District  
7:25am**

Dalen took a deep breath, knowing that his skills were quite rusty due to three years of not piloting a mobile suit. So he was quite grateful to know that he wasn't alone against these forces. "Alright boys... let's skin us some shark!" he shouted over the radio to the other EH mobile suits. That got a round laughter in response.

He had the Honor hold its shield protectively as he speed towards the enemy pirate forces, artillery and beam weapons slamming on his shield over and over, while several of his fellows provided cover fire as they all sped towards the Blood Fins.

The Honor came right up to the first of the enemy suits, a Strike Dagger, and swung the Claymore sword down at it. The pilot reacted quickly, able to avoid the strike with some quick accelerating to its engines. The Dagger pulled out its own beam saber, only to have the Honor whirl around and kick it in the chest with its right foot. That knocked the machine off balance long enough for the Lieutenant to drive his massive sword through its chest, destroying it.

Beside him, several EH mobiles suits were firing rapidly with their weapons. One managed to hit a Blood Fin mobile suit, blowing it into space dust. In response, a GuAIZ fired its anchor claws out towards the EH machine, blowing both of its arms off before firing a shot from its beam rifle and blowing it up. An old EH GINN fired it's weapon at the GuAIZ but the pilot blocked the shots easily enough and rushed towards it, the beam sabers mounted on its left arm ignited to life and Dalen heard his comrade's final screams as the GINN was chopped in half.

It had been Michael. A former Natural Army officer who had left the Alliance after the attack on Orb. A friend.

Hissing under his breath his breath, Dalen headed towards the enemy GuAIZ unit as it was already going after another ally. Taking out his second beam boomerang, he hurled it at the Blood Fin who managed to dodge in time. Fortunately, it caused his aim to be off as he missed the EH Strike Dagger.

The GuAIZ took notice of him as it came at him with its beam sabers ready. The weapons clashed with Honor's massive Claymore sword. Dalen attempted to take another swing, but the GuAIZ jumped back and avoided it. It began firing its Pollux IX railguns at the Honor, which Dalen countered by spinning the Claymore in the Gundam's hands, making a makeshift shield that blocked the shots. Once that barrage was over, he raised the sword and charged again, beginning it downward on the GuAIZ, which once again dodged.

But this time, Dalen had been expecting that as he separated the weapon into the two smaller half Claymore blades. He swung the right one at the Blond Fin, catching it by surprised as he severed it's left arm, it's shield and beam sabers flying off and exploding.

The former ZAFT machine activated its thruster and attempted to flee backwards, laying down a series of shots to cover its retreat. Dalen piloted the Honor in hot pursuit, weaving and dodging the various shots. In an attempt to close the gap, he fired off several rounds from the Vulcan guns. The GuAIZ had no choice but to bring up its remaining arm in a vain attempt to block the shots, but that was all that Dalen needed. Giving another boost of his engine, he brought up his left Claymore blade and slashed through the remaining arm, then thrust his other blade into the cockpit.

He quickly backed off as the GuAIZ exploded. If he had that much trouble with against an older mobile suit model, looks like his skills were _really_ rusty. If he survived this, he would have to retrain himself to get back to his peak since there was no chance of convincing Brimfield to get him off the hook of piloting this thing.

At the same time, several of the EH units were taking strife runs on the _Nelson_-class' port side, blowing up several weapons' placements. That's when four old Moebius mobile armors appeared behind them, firing their linear guns and missiles. One of the EH suits was hit in the back, and before he could react as he crashed into the Blood Fin ship. The mobile suit skipped across the hull several times before finally exploding. The other two quickly turned around and shot at the mobile armors. All four were destroyed quickly. But one of the EH mobile suits was destroyed by the ship's weapons while the remaining one took off.

"Matthew, George, Charlie, Able, Nickolas!" Dalen called out the names of those piloting Strike Daggers, GINNs and CGUE. "With me: we're taking out the _Nelson_!"

"_Aye, aye!_" came the voices as the six machines at the damaged pirate vessel, spitting into two groups.

Matthew, George and Charlie in their Strike Dagger, GINN and CGUE hit the damaged port side, while Dalen, Able and Nickolas attacked on the starboard side. Several more mobile armors came out them but there were easily dispatched. With the Natural and Coordinator flanking him and providing him cover, Dalen recombined the Claymore before attacking the 'neck' of the ship, cutting the bridge from the rest of the ship. The bridge exploded, leaving a remaining large chunk of ship now drifting. Dalen gave the signal as he and the other five all flew to the port side of the ship as the other mobile suits from the hangar joined the fighting.

All the gathered mobile suits quickly joined the Honor on the portside of the hull, using the ship as a large barricade for cover. Giving an order, the consortium of mobile suits powered up their engines as much as they could, some going well past the safety limits. The result was a brief but intense burst of momentum that hurled the remains of the _Nelson_-class right towards the _Laurasia_ and _Nazca _ships. While the _Nelson_ was nowhere near fast enough to properly collide into the two functioning ships, it was drawing a fair portion of their firepower on it, leaving them slightly vulnerable.

As the two former ZAFT ships coldly blasted the _Nelson_ ship as they also moved out of the way, the Honor and other EH mobile suits made a beeline for the two ships. Six Blood Fin mobile suits – two ZAKUs, one GuAIZ and three Strike Daggers – flanked by a number of remaining mobile armors appeared.

The enemy units began firing wildly at the Honor and others. One of their number wasn't fast enough and was blasted to pieces. _Another life lost_.

In anger, Dalen placed one of his Claymores onto his back and took out his beam rifle, firing a series of shots at the enemy, each one striking a mobile armor. He sped towards a ZAKU in the group, swinging his sword at it. As expected, he missed but it did allow him to achieve his real objective: stealing one of the ZAKU's grenades. He lobbed the thing at the ZAKU, where it exploded at point blank range. He spun around and fired a shot at another machine, hitting it in the head. He rushed the mobile suit, turning around to slam the Honor's feet into the Dagger. He used the machine as a brace to launch himself at another mobile suit, while at the same time propelling the Blood Fin unit into a mobile armor, destroying both.

Dalen's Gundam soared through the emptiness of space towards another Strike Dagger but before he got halfway, he felt his machine rock from an explosion. He looked back to see the other ZAKU had fired a bazooka at him, though his VPS armor took the worst of the hit. Utilizing a series of short bursts, he regained position as a GuAIZ unit came after him. Reacting as best he could, he withdrew his second combat knife and stabbed forward, hitting the Blood Fin machine in the cockpit. A small explosion happened around the cockpit as the machine drifted, so Dalen took his beam rifle and shot the thing.

Three mobile armors flew towards him, but were destroyed by several of the other Mathilde defenders. But he paid it no mind as they continued battling it out with the remaining mobile suits and fending off the coming mobile armors. An EH Strike Dagger and a Blood Fin Strike Dagger pierced themselves in the cockpits, destroying both.

The remaining Strike Dagger and ZAKU were tag-teaming as the EH mobile suits converged on them. Giving each other cover, they took out three of them and not suffering a scratch themselves. Dalen heard each of the pilots scream, Able among them. He took off towards the two Blood Fins. "Leave them to me! The rest of you hit that _Laurasia_-class!"

After acknowledging the order the other mobile suits veered off, going for the _Laurasia_ while the mobile armors opened fired. The Honor sped towards the two mobile suits, using his shield to block their shots while evading as much he could. He fired back over and over again, but the two mobile suits separated, going into different directions when he got closer. His Claymore swung into nothing. Once again, his machine rocked with enemy fire. He quickly turned around as a grenade appeared before him, followed quickly by an explosion. The two Blood Fins hollered in glee as they looked at the results through the dissipating smokescreen.

A carbon-charred shield was all that was there.

"_A shield!?_" Both pilots exclaimed. _Where the hell was..._

The pilot of the Strike Dagger looked behind him as a proximity alarm sounded. He was just in time to see the strange new mobile suit, with its massive anti-ship sword combined once again, seemingly appear out of nowhere. The anti-ship sword slashed through the mobile suit, and Dalen would later swear he heard the pilot's screams as he died. He quickly turned around and fired several of his Vulcan guns at the remaining Mobile Suit. The shots rattled on the ZAKU harmlessly until several bullets hit one of its remaining grenades. A second later, yet another mobile suit was blown to pieces.

Dalen didn't waste any time in turning the Gundam around towards the battleships. Several mobile armors and EH personnel had perished so far, but the _Laurasia-_class was heavily damaged, with the _Nazca-_class providing support fire. The Honor flew towards the damaged ship, taking out three mobile armors as he flew by. _Seriously... why would anyone use those things anymore? They're not even useful. _He held out the Claymore blade as he made way to the Blood Fin ship. The massive sword struck just above the bridge aware as he ignited his thrusters to the max, allowing him to slash down the entire length of the ship, all the way to the engines.

That strike, along with the rest of the damage so far, proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Explosions riddled all over the vessel, each one building off one another, making each successor that much bigger until it finally broke into two pieces…and then many more.

_One more to go_, Dalen thought as he turned the Honor towards the remaining warship, the _Nazca-_class. As he rushed into attack, hegot a burst of inspiration. A _Nazca_ could prove useful for their operations, with its speed. And if they did need to evacuate Mathilde Colony, another big ship besides the _Early Harvest_ would be very useful. "Minimal damage boys!" he shouted over the radio. "Target the weapons only! I repeat: target the weapons _only_!"

Once again, a series of replies was heard as the mobile suits finished the last of the mobile armors and began blowing apart each of the weapon placements. The Honor itself used its swords to slice through the two main cannons below. Several other mobile suits dashed towards the rear of the ship and fired, inflicting heavy damage on the engines. Nodding in approval, the Honor jumped back and then flew up until he was in front of the bridge. Dalen could see the startled crew from this close and for a brief moment, he hesitated.

Then he plunged the anti-ship sword directly into the bridge.

The area exploded, killing the command crew instantly. He saw the remaining engines power down as the ship floated lifeless.

Sometimes he hated his life...

With that, he gathered the remaining EH members around him and headed towards to the next part of the battle.

As it was, he would later learn that in this part of the fight alone, eleven _Early Harvest_ members had lost their lives. Of the Blood Fins: twenty-five mobile armors, seventeen mobile suits, and of course the three ships had been destroyed, with a fourth disabled.

And an unofficial casualty was the contents of Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen's lunch…_again_.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Factory District  
7:36am**

Nestled safely under the blanket of Mirage Colloid and drifting gently amidst the debris field, Goldie carefully maneuvered his X3 Loyalty towards its target location as per the instructions left to him by Lieutenant Siemer. It was taking him a painstakingly long time to reach the optimal attack point that the combat commander had recommended. With the lack of air or wind currents to dissipate the heat emissions of his engine thrusters, he was forced to drift almost lifelessly towards where he was needed to go. And thanks to the sniper of their little X-unit team randomly blasting into the debris field to trigger some of the mines planted within to confuse their enemies, it was causing Goldie to go slightly slower so that his Gundam wouldn't be caught by a shower of shrapnel. Actually, he'd already lost count of how many times he'd had to use his shield to protect himself.

'_This is __**so**__ boring_,' Charley whined. '_Why can't we just attack right __**now?**__ We're certainly __**close**__ enough!_'

"That isn't part of the plan," Goldie replied coolly. He was every bit as annoyed as Charley, but he had _far_ more self-control than Charley likely ever would. "If we come out of the colloid now, we'll be throwing it all away. Do you really want to deal with Lieutenant Siemer because we disobeyed orders _again?_"

'_Why should I care what some wannabe combat commander thinks?_' Charley snapped. He'd had _enough_ of this!

Wincing and letting out a growl of pain, Goldie could feel Charley rising up, taking control of him again. He fought desperately to resist, to hold him in check, anything; but it was for naught. Charley would _not_ be denied this!

"Besides," Charley continued as a sinister sneer spread across his face, he was fully in control now. "I LIVE TO _FIGHT!!!_"

The Mirage Colloid vanished as the mobile suit appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. Then its gray coloring shifted to mostly orange with a few bright yellow stripes and highlights. Boosting its engines, the Gundam suddenly shifted and changed into its mobile armor mode as it went rushing off towards the enemy warships.

'_Charley, stop it!_' Goldie yelled futilely. '_You're ruining the plan!_'

"_Screw the plan!_" Charley yelled ecstatically as he rapidly closed in on their attackers. "_It's __**playtime!!**_"

Letting out a crazed cackle, he attacked the closer of the two ships. It was a _Marseille III_-class transport. The blazing Amfortas plasma cannons tore large holes through the unprepared, marginally armored spaceship. The multiple shots riddled the portside with deep holes; several of them even blasted clear through the other side of the vessel. The _Marseille III_ didn't explode from the damage done, but precious air, debris, and personnel alike were all sucked out into the vacuum of space once the numerous explosions died down.

Laughing loudly at the destruction and death he'd inflicted, Charley yelled out, "Did you see _**that**__,_ _Goldie?!_ _Goldie?! __**HAHAHAHA!!**__ This is fun!_"

'_Stop it, Charley!_' Goldie ordered. '_As members of the __**Early Harvest**__, we—_'

"Spare me the sentimental dribble!" Charley snapped, already looking for his next plaything. "Let's have some more fun!!"

Swiftly rolling to the side to dodge a desperate salvo of CWIS fire from the old-styled Earth Forces _Drake_-class, Charley continued his insane laughter as he angled towards the ship. Changing back into a mobile suit, the Gundam grabbed the Vajra beam sabers on its shoulders. Swooping up from under its bow, Charley jabbed his sabers into the _Drake_'s forward-facing Vulcan cannons. Flaring his engines, Charley's Vajra sabers burned twin lines through the hull of the old-generation warship as he rocketed towards the stern.

Shooting out from under the _Drake_'s engines, Charley spun his Gundam around. Bringing the Amfortas cannons up, he fired them straigth inot the engines of the _Laurasia_ that had been futilely trying to shoot him down as he shredded the _Drake_. The high-energy beams tore through the armor and the engines easily. Goldie pulled the Loyalty back to watch with glee at his handiwork. The damage done to their engines proved to be their downfall, resulting in _Drake_ going up in a large explosion and followed shortly by the _Laurasia_.

"_OHH!_ Look at all the pretty colors, Goldie!" Charley cheered to his other self. This was just so much fun! He was the ultimate _warrior_, the ultimate _destroyer_, and this was his _greatest_ pleasure! This was what he _lived_ for! What he was _meant_ for! What he had been _rebuilt_ for! And how he so dearly _relished_ it!

Sharp jolts off the Loyalty's VPS armor quickly returned Charley's attention back to the present. Swinging around to face his new enemies, he spotted a formation of only ten approaching GuAIZ and Strike Daggers. Exchanging one of his Vajra in favor of his beam rifle, the maniacal Coordinator said, "You know what I see, Goldie? A WHOLE LOT OF _SMALL FRY!!_"

With a loud cheer, Goldie rushed straight into the heart of the formation, beam rifle blazing.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Great White, Agamemnon**_**-class warship  
7:50am**

The final ship of the Blood Fins fleet, the _Great White_, was floating ominously three kilometers outside the debris belt of the asteroid colony.

Though Commander Sansui could be said to be a formidable mobile suit pilot in battle, he was little more than lucky Second Lieutenant when compared to the many others who shared his same rank when it came to battle strategies. There were only two things that had allowed him to ascend to the post of the Blood Fins' commander: his greed and his savagery.

When his old ship had been allowed to enlist into the Blood Fins' armada, he had went meet to the former Commander in person, only to shoot a hole into the bridge's viewport. The unprepared Commander and his entire bridge crew of Loyalists had all been sucked out into the vacuum of space. It was immediately afterwards that he'd named himself the newest commander. If there had been any disloyalty shown towards him, Sansui killed them on the spot. However, he had quickly won himself the loyalty of the rest of the fleet when he'd led them through a series of raids that had not only boosted their reputations, but brought in considerable more wealth than the former commander ever had.

But all of those raids had been entirely thanks to luck.

And then the wretched Earth Alliance had the _nerve_ to come and force _him_ out of his secret base in one of the O'Neil colonies?! If it hadn't been for their overwhelming numbers, Sansui would've had his fleet attack them in an instant. But he ultimately complied. With nowhere else to go, he had taken his fleet to the pirate sanctuary of _Heaven's Fortune;_ a massive space station designed by, constructed for, and used solely for pirates as a not-so-secret black market. It was there that he'd learned of the repeated attempts on the infamous Mathilde Colony and he knew he'd found his calling. Clearly the goddess of fortune and luck was smiling down upon him.

Under normal circumstances, attacking the colony would've been a very grave mistake, no matter how powerful the attacking force may be. But after so many attacks in such a short time, the resolve and efficiency of the high-class Persephone-damned 'pirates' would've been worn away to allow another easy win for his fleet! Plus, he'd had a personal vendetta against that accursed Captain of theirs for several years now.

The initial infiltration of the colony by intercepting and destroying the Junk Guild vessel, and then sending one of his _Marseille III_ to seize the hangar had gone off without a hitch. With the hangar blocked, none of the formidable EH mobile suits would be able to launch a proper retaliatory attack as his ground troops surged in and took control of the spaceport. That part of the plan had actually been well on its way to succeeding when suddenly the wretched defenders revealed trio of completely unexpected aces. Three new mobile suits that performed and fought at well above the levels of the fabled Gundam-class! The sword Gundam had shredded his primary invasion force. The sniper Gundam had blasted the second invasion force over the residential district to pieces. And finally that transformable Gundam had slaughtered his remaining three ships and their mobile suits all by itself.

If not for those incredible new machines, the colony would've been his at long last!

Sansui couldn't stop himself from snarling in an almost animalistic way as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. How could things have gone to so wrong so quickly because of three new machines?! All that he had left was the _Great White_ and its fifteen mobile suits, nowhere near enough to overpower the strengthened defenses of the Mathilde Colony. He had lost precious resources, manpower, and his reputation after this humiliating setback! He would have to rebuild his fleet from scratch, raid countless ships and other colonies, and somehow maintain his position as the commander for a crew of bloodthirsty and treasure-hungry pirates. It would take him months, if not years, to be able to mount another operation like this again!

But he was Commander Sansui of the ferocious Blood Fins' pirates! He could still pull a win out of this! He knew he could!

"Commander! Incoming transmission from the colony!"

"Put it on the screen," he barked.

The image of the hard-faced _Early Harvest_ Captain in a space suit appeared before him and the bridge crew. In the background, Sansui could clearly see the debris of what had clearly been the _Marseille III_ he'd sent earlier. And there was a line of prisoners partially visible over Brimfield's shoulder, no doubt the pathetic fools who he'd mistakenly trusted to carry out the mission of securing the spaceport. If he ever saw them again, he'd put a bullet in each of their heads himself!

"Commander Sansui," Brimfield said calmly, his expression and voice an indistinguishable neutral. "Still up to your filthy tricks and tactics I see."

"What do you want, Brimfield?" Sansui demanded. Oh how he loathed that man!

"I'm offering you and your remaining crew one final chance to leave our colony," Brimfield said. "We shall return your men to you, unharmed, and you will leave immediately."

"And what makes you think I care about those useless fools behind you?" Sansui snapped, glaring fiercely. "Nothing you say will change my mind! I will have that factory! And I will have your head when this day is through, you Persephone-scum!"

Brimfield merely stared coolly back his fellow pirate captain. "Do you know of the ironic significance of you calling my people and I as 'Persephone's Children'?"

Sansui's glare deepened considerably. Of course he didn't know the full story behind the stupid name that the other pirates had started calling the _Early Harvest_. All he cared about was the fact that it sounded like an extremely derogatory term used to describe these loathsome 'pirates'.

"Captain!" the radar station called out suddenly. "Three enemy mobile suits heading straight for us! It's those new models!"

"All cannons and missile launchers fire!" he barked immediately. "Shoot them down!!"

Turning, he sent a renewed glare at Brimfield. So that was what the man had been up to? Distracting him while his underlings snuck up on his ship?! He'd show the bastard! Sansui swore to himself to throw the man out the airlock as soon as he'd conquered this colony!

"Persephone was indeed the daughter of the Greek goddess of the harvest," Brimfield continued as he saw that Sansui was again looking at him. "However, she had been kidnapped and later wed to Hades, the God of the Underworld, thus making her the Queen of the Underworld."

Outside, the transformable Gundam came tearing forward at breakneck speeds. As it shot past the starboard side of the _Great White_, it fired repeated blasts, blowing massive holes through the hull of the large warship. Next, the sword Gundam shot forth, easily dodging the futile defensive fire from the CWIS, and jabbed its massive beam swords into the portside of the ship. Gunning its thrusters, the Gundam slashed down the entire length of the warship.

As the sniper Gundam lined up for a shot, Sansui came to a sudden realization. A revelation that Brimfield almost immediately confirmed. "That would make us on the _Early Harvest_ the children of the God of Death."

The sniper Gundam's shot tore clean through the bridge, killing all inside and triggering the inevitable destruction of the _Great White_ and the deaths of the pirates. The Blood Fins were no more.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Whew, that was one heck of a monster chapter. Much, _much_ longer than I'd originally predicted it being. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter, especially the parts where my friends (**animefan29** and **FictionReader98**) had written and created their own characters in the story. While I currently don't have much of an idea of what's going to happen to them, I can state with certainty that this will likely not be the last time we see the _Early Harvest_. Oh no, they still have a role to play in this story.

In case any of you are wondering, the three X-units are all based on data that (A)Kira and Professor K had stolen from ZAFT in the beginning chapters. And while the X2 Honor is remarkably similar to the Sword Impulse, the X1 Courage is based strongly off a fusion of the Blast Impulse and the Dynames Gundam from 00. Not much to say about the X3 Loyalty, except that I just really liked the Savior's design. Big time thank you for **animefan29** for helping me refine these three into the beauties they are now!

Martius—March  
Sextilis--August

**EHG-X1 Courage** (based on ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam)  
Unit type**: **prototype artillery and sniper mobile suit**  
**Model Number: EHG-X1, _E__arly __H__arvest_ Gundam-eXperimental unit 01  
Manufacturer**:** Mathilde Colony (_Early Harvest_)  
Operator(s)**: **_Early Harvest_, Henry Siemer**  
**First deployment**: **January 1, 74 CE**  
**Powerplant**: **ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental) **  
**Color: Faded orange (chest), white; brown (Full Shield)  
Equipment and design features**:  
**Extreme Long-Range Targeting Sensors, range unknown  
Mirage Colloid  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor**  
**Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, mounted in chest  
2 x MMI-M16XE2 "Deluge" hyper-velocity rail cannon, mounted on back of Full Shield Pack, folded over shoulders when in use  
1 x long-range sniper beam rifle, can unfold into standard beam rifle, stored on right shoulder  
2 x M2000F "Kerberos" high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on back  
2 x GMF39 quadruple missile launcher (AGM141 "Firefly" guided missiles), mounted on Kerberos beam cannons  
2 x 'Defiant' beam javelin, stored in Kerberos beam cannons  
2 x beam pistol, stored on hip armor

**EHG-X2 Honor** (based on ZGMF-X56S/β Sword Impulse Gundam)  
Unit type**: **prototype attack mobile suit  
Model Number: EHG-X2, _E__arly __H__arvest_ Gundam-eXperimental unit 02  
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (_Early Harvest_)  
Operator(s): _Early Harvest_, Dalen Bertelsen  
First deployment**: **January 1, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental)  
Color: Faded orange (torso, shoulders, forearms), white  
Equipment and design features:  
Mirage Colloid  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest  
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders  
2 x MMI-980 "Claymore" anti-ship sword, combinable, stored on back  
1 x MMI-RG59V mobile shield, mounted on left arm  
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist  
2 x M71-AAK "Folding Razor" anti-armor knife, stored in hip armor  
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hips

**EHG-X3 Loyalty** (based on the original ZGMF-X23S Savior)  
Unit type**: **prototype transformable attack mobile suit  
Model Number: EHG-X3, _E__arly __H__arvest_ Gundam-eXperimental unit 03  
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (_Early Harvest_)  
Operator(s): _Early Harvest_, Charles 'Goldie' Goldsboro  
First deployment**: **January 1, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental)  
Color: Yellow (body), faded orange (wings, backpack)  
Equipment and design features:  
Mirage Colloid  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head  
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on shoulders  
1 x MMI-RD11 aerodynamic shield, mounted on left arm  
2 x M106 "Amfortas" plasma beam cannon, mounted on backpack, can be fired in mobile suit and mobile armor mode  
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm machine gun, mounted on backpack  
2 x MA-7B "Super Fortis" beam cannon, mounted on backpack  
1 xMA-BAR70 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist


	18. The Changing Tides

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 18: The Changing Tides_

**January 3, 74 CE  
**_**Liberator**_**, Slovenia  
****4:38am**

Luna Ito couldn't help but feel reluctantly respectful of the passionately driven young man whom she was watching. He was everything that the data she had received on him and more. However, no amount of data obtained on a disk could adequately prepare a person for the real deal. And some information could only be gained from meeting a person face to face. Like his most useful talent, which had only been speculated on until she'd had it confirmed it with her own eyes.

At that thought, Luna couldn't help but let a small smile of ironic humor filter across her expression. As soon as he'd laid eyes upon the designs of the GFAS-X1 Destroy, the boy had promptly commandeered her computer keypad, letting his fingers race across the pad with almost alarming speed. He'd spent the next three hours meticulously dissecting and analyzing the blueprints of the mobile suit. Luna had at first allowed him because she knew that he needed to familiarize himself with the Gundam that the Earth Forces were no doubt preparing to unleash. As time went by, Akira continued to review the information. Though she and the other pilots had long since left her office, her computer had a specially encrypted program that allowed her track everything took place within its systems. That was how she was able to pull up the recent additions that Iyadomi had caused. The amount of data that Akira had discovered on the mobile suit from just those fragmented blueprints surprised her. Akira Iyadomi was a genius mobile suit designer and computer programmer, on top of being a deadly pilot!

Once he'd finally decided that he'd learned all he could, Iyadomi had copied all the information upon a data chip and left to begin repairs on his Gundam. When he had first arrived, Iyadomi had quickly refused all help the mechanics of the _Liberator_ offered, only asking that he could use a spare tool set and any necessary cranes. And thus began the long repair sequence of replacing the shredded wreckage of the cameras with the ones that he cannibalized from the Rapier headpiece he'd brought with him. Although she knew that they meant no harm and only intended to help their hero, Iyadomi had vehemently and bluntly proclaimed that he'd fix his Gundam by himself. Either he was intimately passionate for personalizing his machine himself, or he was unspeakably paranoid. Whatever the case, the boy seemed able to go for days without sleep as he fixed the damage that had been done.

That constant vigilance was becoming a real annoyance for Yoshi and the other two pilots. Carter and Maria were very…social individuals. They liked interacting with their fellow pilots, comrades in arms as they put it. No one on the _Liberator_ had been spared from meeting those two. However, Akira made it no secret that he wanted to depart the warship as soon as he was properly repaired. His single-minded need to fix his mobile suit and leave the old ZAFT land battleship was throwing a real wrench into the pair's plans of properly acquainting and worshiping their hero. And because of that, Yoshi hadn't been able to complete his assigned task at long last. If things continued as they were, they wouldn't have any real information to report to their benefactor. This was a crucial mission they were on; they couldn't afford to allow such an opportunity to escape their grasp!

Sighing to herself in disappointment, Luna turned away from the monitor she'd been watching. It showed a head-on view of the Neo Freedom, still missing armor on the damaged right side of the headpiece, with only Iyadomi's legs visible under the bulky device that he was busy securing the mobile suit's systems. The boy's tenacity and drive were to truly be admired.

Turning back to her computer, Luna finished up in typing her report of the current situation. She knew their benefactor would be far from pleased with their lack of progress, but what could she do? He had given her and Yoshi explicit orders, orders that they had followed to the letter. All that they could do from this point was pray that things finally began to go the way that their benefactor had planned.

After all, if his next scheme didn't work, then the Hands of Freedom were his last resort. His final gamble on _finally_ destroying the Neo Freedom!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Neo Freedom  
****5:08am**

_The roar of the waterfall was deafening. The jagged black rocks that formed the cliff face that the moderately sized curtain was falling from gave off an aura of foreboding doom to all who'd dare try to scale the rugged slopes. The deep pool of water and its river that had formed under that cliff offered both safety and beauty. Mosses, ferns, and various trees were scattered around the basin, further enhancing the scenery with rich patches of green. This was true natural beauty, created from many long centuries of geological cycles. He couldn't help but be drawn towards it._

_As he stared up at the top of the waterfall, he wondered what was at the top of that waterfall. What could he see from that higher elevation? Without any further thought, he moved forward to climb the cliff. The closer he got to the black rock, the more he realized just how rugged and sharp it was. If he tried to climb that, the sharp edges would slice through his clothes and shoes like butter! Did he really want to see what was up there that badly?_

_Yes, he did._

_There were plenty of foot and handholds to grab. The first ten feet weren't that bad, until he slipped. A rock sliced through his shoe and foot easily, using his own weight and the waterfall's mist as a lubricant. His ascent grew steadily more difficult the higher he pushed and pulled himself along its surface. But he pushed on, ignoring the growing number of cuts on his body and the blood that was quickly staining the black rocks red._

_It felt like he'd been climbing for hours, and making no progress. He refused to look down. If he did, he knew he'd see only rivers of blood and no real amount of travel made. He'd lose his nerve and quit. He wouldn't quit, he __**couldn't!**__ Not after all this, all he'd done already, and all he still had to do! He refused!_

"_Need some help there?" a kind, if slightly amused, voice asked from above him._

_Startled, his head snapped upwards immediately. A pretty blonde girl dressed in a slightly form-fitting red shirt and wearing dog tags looked down at him from over the edge of the cliff. Her expression was clearly amused and he could swear that there was a superior twinkle in her eyes, as though she knew something he didn't._

"_C-Cagalli Yula Athha?" he asked in confusion and surprise._

_But now that he could see her, he realized that he actually closer to his goal than he'd thought he'd been. He let out a small chuckle at the irony but he shook his head politely no. If he'd come all this way by himself, he could certainly manage two or three more feet, right?_

_Then the rock he'd been balancing most of his weight on suddenly fell free! No! It was pulled free! Someone was trying to stop him! Flailing his bleeding and weakened arms in an attempt to angle himself towards the cliff so he could regain his balance, he could feel it…almost there… Something grabbed him by the collar of his black sweater! Pulled him backwards! Before he toppled free of the cliff, he caught snapshot glimpse of the person responsible. It was a long-haired blond man with a white mask and wicked sneer on his face._

_Even as gravity seized him and pulled him back towards the lower elevation, he didn't scream. He didn't yell for help. And he refused to give into fear as the water below him came rushing up to greet him._

_He threw a fast glance back towards the blonde girl. But she was gone! Where'd she go?! Movement! Directly above him, he could see a white, red, and blue mobile suit suddenly go rocketing over the cliff he'd been climbing. That suit looked like—_

_It exploded!_

_As its debris came raining down towards him at unimaginable speeds, he couldn't help but feel a wave of remorse rush through him. That mobile suit had been a—_

"_Gundam," he whispered, awash with overwhelming sadness._

_Then he crashed into the cold water below, the Gundam's wreckage mere nanoseconds behind him._

Snapping awake in an instant, Akira panted slightly as he sat up from where he'd fallen asleep, only to hit his head hard on a slab of unforgiving neo-titanium. Recoiling, his hand flew up to rub his injury, which accidentally knocked something off his lap. That something, whatever the wretched thing was, made several clattering sounds as it fell from its perch and continued to fall.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Akira glared heatedly at the damn thing that he'd hurt himself on. The cold interior of the Neo Freedom's headpiece was predictably unmoved by his accusing glare. Wait, if he was here then that meant…

"I did it again," Akira muttered to himself in annoyance.

_He watched as the white, red, and blue flew by overhead before it suddenly exploded, throwing debris everywhere._

Shaking his head violently, the half-blonde/half-brown haired Coordinator tried to force the image out of his mind. But the mobile suit refused to budge. Despite himself, he couldn't help wonder something. Why did the vibrant image of the old GAT-X105 Strike seem to hit him with a tsunami of emotions that he barely understood in his confusion? Actually…the answer to that question, and several others, was slowly starting to come into focus.

But he wasn't sure he wanted to know if his growing suspicions were even remotely true. Because if they were…what and who did that make him now? He _didn't_ want to think about it! …At least not yet.

Refocusing his mind, Akira lightly dropped out of the Freedom's blast-opened headpiece to retrieve his laptop. His immediate repairs were nearly finished, and then he could finally leave this accursed warship and its 'wrong' feeling crew behind!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Aprillis 1  
****12:59pm**

The most important thing to remember is that nothing remains constant. Things change, evolve, and erode away; it is inevitable with the passage of time. And at this time, Durandal was calmly forcing himself to remember that most important lesson. So many new and unforeseen variables were rapidly appearing on the scene, they were almost enough to drive him towards despair. But had some of them not proven themselves to be potentially quite useful to him, Durandal just might've given into his frustration over these numerous new issues.

However, he held something in his hand that did much in the way to calm his nerves and slight temper. It was a report of the progress on the trio of new Gundams that he'd ordered constructed. Thus far the first model, the X666S was turning out to be progressing quite well. The various new upgrades to its predecessor's design were clearly visible upon the blueprints that had come attached to the report he was reading. With these essential upgrades and many new weapons, Durandal had little doubt that it would pose as genuine of a threat to the Neo Freedom as the last model did to the Freedom in the last war.

In contrast however, the X42S was proving to actually be the easiest of the three to be assembled. For all its incredible weaponry and experimental systems that were being tested and installed, the basic design was strikingly similar to the original Freedom. As such, the engineers were actually much closer to completion on this model than its brothers.

Yet, with all the good news for the previous two Gundams, the final suit was proving to be the trickiest one. Overall, the X44S had an extremely straight-forward design. However, due to a strike of true ingenuity among the ZAFT designers and engineers, the special features of this Gundam were taking considerably longer time building and testing. They were toying in technologies never before used, so Durandal could understand the much slower pace they were taking for this mobile suit. But even so, it was almost ready for actual pilot testing.

Once these machines had been properly field tested, he had every intention of delivering them to his chosen pilots. Though he had every confidence that they would use them to the best of their abilities, one of them had recently begun seeming less than enthused to continue in the role that had been lain out for him. That thought brought up another of Durandal's recent problems.

Although Athrun Zala had performed all his duties to the best of his abilities and completed his missions without question or disobedience, Durandal had an itching feeling that the boy was going to become very problematic in the near-future; especially if he continued down the path of trying to understand his long-lost friend's actions. The longer that the Neo Freedom was allowed to run free in this war of reformation, the more likely it seemed to Durandal that the boy might decide to abandon ZAFT once again. Athrun had done it before, it went without saying that he could and would do it again. Thankfully, he had a special 'back-up plan' should things really started to develop that way.

At least his other pilots for the remaining two machines didn't seem to have that problem. One simply loved his homeland enough that he would follow any order as long as he was able to be of service in protecting it. The other one harbored unimaginably deep hatred towards anything he didn't understand or feared, and it was _always_ easy to manipulate such rage.

But until these three machines were completed, he'd be forced to wait. Without their awesome firepower and abilities, he knew that the only way he could bring down that infuriating rogue Gundam was by overwhelming it with numbers and long-range bombardment. He had watched the first engagement of Operation Hunter on television, along with most of the world.

At first it had seemed though the Neo Freedom would actually fall, especially when it had taken that blow to its cameras. And yet it had still managed to put up a formidable fight, destroying several more enemies before that ZAKU had gotten in a sneak shot at its back. That was when things had taken a drastic turn. A trio of black Earth Forces Rapier mobile suits had arrived and saved the Gundam. The Neo Freedom had finally gained some actual allies?

Durandal's spies had immediately gone to work trying to find all they could about this mysterious new group. Unlike how aggravating it had been locating the Neo Freedom, this new group made it no secret who they were or what their intentions were. The name of this group was the 'Hands of Freedom' and they were intending to end this war, no matter the cost to themselves or those they deemed their enemies. However, despite their mutual goals, Durandal strongly suspected that Akira Iyadomi had already left them behind. Because if he'd come to understand anything about that young freedom fighter, it was that he worked _alone_.

Yet Durandal could clearly see that these Hands held very different philosophies than the one who'd inspired them. Of the bases and factories that the Neo Freedom had destroyed or attacked, there was a surprisingly lack of lives lost. Akira clearly went out of his way to take as few as he possibly could. In contrast, the small outpost that the Hands had destroyed prior to rescuing the Freedom had been done with the same blitzkrieg tactics as the Freedom but they spared no one, killing all involved; be it civilian or soldier. A truly despicable tactic, even by Durandal's standards of getting what he wanted by any means necessary.

As this thought passed through his mind, Durandal let a small sneer. Though not a religious man in any regard, he couldn't help but thank whatever higher entity was that was out there for this unexpected blessing. This was just the thing that he needed to finally and fully turn the people of Earth against Akira Iyadomi and to side with his ZAFT forces!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 4, 74 CE  
****Linz, Austria  
****7:09am**

Letting out a sigh of relief, Akira gently nestled the Neo Freedom into its hiding place and deactivated the Mirage Colloid. The damage to the headpiece after that beam blast had been even more extensive than he'd at first predicted. Thankfully with that severed Rapier headpiece he'd taken, he'd had a full supply of spare parts ready. And while he had unable to replace the lost Balaena cannon, the primary cameras were once again working at their optimal potential.

Climbing out the cockpit after locking the Gundam's OS, he turned and stared sadly at the headpiece. For the all the repairs he'd managed to accomplish in the _Liberator_'s mobile suit bay, the damage to the once proud headpiece and its crests were still critical. The armor that once covered the right side of its face was still missing, exposing the camera and all gadgets inside to the elements now. Of course, those were the only repairs he could've made while aboard the _Liberator_. Without the properly materials that even the Hands' didn't have, the Balaena plasma cannon was still inoperable.

With another sigh, this time of resignation, Akira turned and grabbed the cable hoist. There was a certain waitress in a certain restaurant that he needed to check up on. Although he wasn't too sure what his reception would be like when he walked in. Either way, hopefully now that he was somewhere semi-familiar, he could acquire enough parts to fix that Balaena cannon.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Minerva**_**, ZAFT Gibraltar Base  
****3:09pm**

The young captive sat upon his chair in as comfortable a slouch as he could manage with his slowly-healing injuries. To amuse himself, the boy had been thumbing a random beat upon the table in front of him as he gazed off into space. He had been like that for almost the past hour, with little if any change. The food and drink on the table had been left untouched as well.

Captain Gladys had said that the pilot was a bit unpredictable; that despite being as chatty as he was, he rarely said anything of much value to his interrogators. However, Gladys and none of her crew were properly trained in interrogation. Captain Aikoda, on the other hand, was the most seasoned veteran on the subject that the Gibraltar Base had to offer.

Aikoda stared at his latest subject with objective interest. The boy's gaze had the thousand-yard stare, which likely meant he was lost somewhere in his head, either his memories or trying to think up ways of escape. The gentle, slightly rhythmic, tapping of his fingers on the table indicated that he was bored, which increased the possibility of him running at the mouth and unintentionally letting something important slip. But it was the untouched food and water that had Aikoda slightly displeased with the situation. Even though it wasn't ZAFT's policy to use drugs, the Chairman had been extremely explicit when he said that he wanted this prisoner to be _thoroughly_ interrogated. And though his knowledge of special drugs was nothing compared the Earth Forces, Aikoda was still quite adept in creating a foreboding environment that many would eventually give into.

Walking forward at last, Aikoda entered the room. His entrance seemed to have no effect upon the captive pilot, who still wore the thousand-yard stare. It wasn't until he'd moved to his chair across from the young man that Aikoda gained his prisoner's attention. Silently taking his seat, Aikoda pulled out the folder he'd been carrying to review what was known of the boy.

"Lieutenant Tolle Koenig," Aikoda said without preamble. "Born in the year 55 of the Cosmic Era on April 11, you were formerly a resident of the Orb satellite Heliopolis prior its destruction by the ZAFT strike force under the command of Commander Le Creuset. Then you enlisted into the Earth Forces and worked aboard the _Archangel_ warship until shortly before your disappearance and presumed death on the Marshall Islands. Discovered by Orb rescue forces, you were brought to Orb and healed before being released. Then you participated in the Battle of Orb, eventually rejoining the _Archangel_ and fighting alongside it to the end of the war. Afterwards you fully enlisted into the Orb military and became designated as the pilot of their various experimental mobile suits and the official escort pilot of their Chief Representative. You played a role in the defense of Armory One during the theft of three of ZAFT's newest Gundam mobile suits, as well as aiding in the _Minerva_'s escape from the Earth Forces after they had been betrayed by the Orb's Chief Representative. And finally, after kidnapping your Representative from her wedding, you and the _Archangel_ reappeared and interfered with several battles between the Orb Forces and the _Minerva_ before being captured."

"Aside from insulting the Orb Chief Representative's good name with that 'betrayal' comment, what was the point of all that?" Tolle demanded with his eyes alight from slight anger as he glared at the Coordinator.

"With such a…_colorful_ record as yours," Aikoda said easily. "I or my superiors may have to take some…unpleasant measures to ensure that you don't do anything to threaten our operations. You must understand just how this looks to us, don't you?"

"Let's not play your little games, shall we? You think that I'm a loose cannon. Is that what you're trying say, whoever the hell you are?" Tolle asked in an almost disinterested tone. "That's the funny thing about labels. Because you don't understand my ideals, you automatically call me a 'loose cannon.' Let me guess: you still think you stand to gain something from me despite not understanding me. So you're hoping to _redirect_ this 'loose cannon' to help you blast away at whatever _you_ need destroyed. Am I close?"

Aikoda's face remained completely impassive. The young man was so blunt, it was almost painful. He was also quite smart and observant, something that Aikoda was rather expecting given his respectable piloting skills. But he was clearly willful, headstrong, and passionately dedicated to his preconceived cause. This was shaping up to be every bit as difficult as Aikoda had been expecting it to be.

"I believe we're getting off on the wrong foot here," Aikoda said, trying to redirect the young man's attention and not answer his question. "Let's start with something simple: why did you first choose to pilot a mobile suit back in the first war?"

Aikoda needed to better understand this pilot's motives. To ultimately complete his mission, it looked like he needed to play this one slow and steady. Oh well, mind games and conversations were always his favorite form of entertainment. He'd eventually get this boy to talk, one way or another.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Milano, Italy  
****9:09pm**

The night was cold, clear of both clouds and the moon. Without the moon's light, even the whiteness of the snow-covered land seemed a touch darker than usual. Everything was still and calm. There was little noise that disturbed the serene quiet of the night, not even the gentle winds. These were just the conditions that he liked to have whenever he was about to destroy something he hated passionately. The three black Rapiers flew high in the sky, perfectly camouflaged against the dark starry background of the night sky.

The man who went by the name of Yoshi watched as his target came into view. It was a weapons' factory that ZAFT had recently commandeered after they'd all but taken over the Mediterranean Sea. The nearby city of Milano had all but celebrated ZAFT's arrival, even going so far as to aid in the construction of a new outpost for the Coordinators. Although this factory and outpost held little value to the war effort for either side, it was still being used a potential staging and resupplying point for the greatly enlarged patrols that the Coordinators were making to defend the area. And the factory's production lines granted the ZAFT forces surplus of much needed energy cells and ammunition for mobile suits.

Just the thought of Naturals working alongside Coordinators was enough to fill him with unfathomable rage. '_Those filthy space monsters and the bloody traitors will soon get exactly what they've earned_,' he chanted to himself for the umpteenth time. He _hated_ working on the _Liberator_ due to all the disgusting creatures that had been allowed to join, but he hid his hatred well. Besides, he had a mission to carry out.

"_Objective in sight_," Carter intoned with the calmness of any field commander. "_Alright, Hands, respond to the mission as forecasted by Captain Ito. Keep the radio channels open and expect revisions to the plan as needed._"

"Roger," Yoshi answered bluntly. He _hated_ acting like the subordinate. "First Phase commencing on schedule."

"_Okay!_" Maria cheered in a playful tone.

As alarms sounded through the ZAFT base, the three Rapiers immediately split apart and headed towards their individually assigned target locations. Though the ZAFT pilots were rapidly scrambling to meet the unknowns, they still hadn't properly mobilized when Yoshi's Sword Rapier settled into a hover over the mobile suit hangars. Bringing up the salvaged Orthros cannon he'd been given for this part of the mission, Yoshi fired into the collection of hangars below him. The powerful plasma beams tore through the hangars easily, incinerating and destroying everything in their path. In short order there was only large piles of debris remaining of the hangars. Dropping the Orthros, Yoshi withdrew his sword as he switched to the Second Phase, interception of any mobile suits that may have survived.

Giggling helplessly at the sheer amount of fun she was having, Maria destroyed one building after another. First she'd blown up the command center, then the barracks, and now she was playfully sniping at the fleeing ZAFT soldiers with her CWIS. This was so much fun! This was what she'd been created for; death and destruction on a concentrated scale! Oh how the good Doctor would've been so proud of her!

Carter, on the other hand, was methodically destroying the factory with one Agni blast after another. First he targeted the primary building, causing a massive explosion when the ammunition and energy cells ruptured. Now he was focusing on the warehouses that were filled with the finished products and awaiting shipment. He felt that he was lucky to be counted as a member of the Hands. After the previous war, he'd grown to enjoy the brief peace that had followed. Now he wanted to end this war as quickly as possible without resorting to genocide (again) so he could return to those peaceful days.

A proximity alarm! Glancing at his radar as he turned to face his new enemies, he called out, "Yoshi, three BABIs and four GAZuOOT mobile suits incoming from five o'clock; distance three kilometers."

"_Roger_," Yoshi confirmed as he turned rocketed off to destroy the approaching enemies. "_I will eliminate the targets._"

"_Hands, this is the __**Liberator**_," Luna said as her face appeared on a side monitor. "_Skip the Second Phase and proceed to Third Phase!_"

"Switching to Third Phase," Carter intoned as he returned the Agni to its standby mode. As he was turning away, he noticed Maria was still savagely attacking the fleeing soldiers. "Come, Maria. We're withdrawing."

"_AW!_" the young woman whined. "_But I was just getting to the good part!_"

"We're withdrawing," he repeated, iron in his voice. "We've lost the advantage and ZAFT reinforcements will be here shortly. Or do you want to fight the _Minerva_ on your own?"

That had been a lie for the _Minerva_ was still at Gibraltar as far as he knew, but there was always the possibility that things changed without their knowing. Yet the lie was enough to cause the ruthlessly attacking Rapier came to an immediate halt for a moment. Then it gunned its engines and shot into the skies towards its partners in death.

Switching to the external speakers, Carter turned to face the surviving ZAFT forces. "Attention, ZAFT personnel. This is your first and only warning: withdraw from this region immediately or the Hands of Freedom will return. And we will not spare you again as we have tonight."

Turning around the two Rapiers flew off towards their comrade. They watched indifferently as Yoshi finished coldly cutting the seven ZAFT suits to pieces, killing all the pilots without remorse.

Now the ZAFT Gibraltar base would have to find a new source for their ammunition. This would cause the Coordinators to once again expend massive amounts of fortune and time to resupply themselves. And this attack would likely cause any other city to think twice about siding with either side of the war until it had ended.

Mission complete.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 7, 74 CE  
****11:21am**

"This is terrible," Shinn said quietly as he walked through the ruins of the destroyed Milano Base. When the news of the destroyed outpost had reached Gibraltar, the _Minerva_ had immediately been sent to aid in recovery and defense of the outpost. But even expecting the worst, the bitter truth of the matter was far worse than the young super ace had feared.

The destruction caused to the small outpost was complete. The mobile suit hangars were just piles of twisted metal and charred concrete. The various buildings had either been blown to bits or collapsed upon themselves due to beam saber slashes. And the factory itself was a complete loss. It would take months to clear away the debris alone! And the causality count went as high as a thousand dead and another thousand wounded.

"What kind of _monsters_ could do such a thing?!" Shinn demanded hotly to no one in particular. "There was no warning. They just came and killed everyone!"

"That's not entirely true, Shinn," a calm voice said from behind him. Turning, the dark-haired Coordinator spotted his fellow pilot, Heine Westenfluss, walking towards him. "Though they did initiate an unprovoked attack, they could've done a lot more damage if they'd not pulled back when they did."

"But they still killed a lot of innocent people," Shinn growled. He respected Commander Westenfluss a lot, much more than Athrun. But at the same time, he didn't want to be told that the villainous beasts who'd killed innocent civilian factory-workers weren't the group of savages that he was imagining them as. "There is _no_ justification for killing civilians who are only trying to live their lives."

"Yes, I do agree with you, Shinn," Heine answered with a slightly nod as he looked sadly at the collapsed command center in front of them. "And it is for that reason that we must not let them get away with this."

Nodding resolutely, Shinn turned and looked back towards the ruined command center. There were several long rows of dead bodies lying on the ground, their bloody corpses covered respectfully by blankets as they awaited transport. It was this sight that solidified Shinn's already formulated determination to kill those responsible for this massacre. Such demons did not deserve to live in this world!

"Have we learned anything yet on who was responsible for this?" he asked quietly, his voice hard as he continued to gaze upon the saddening scene.

"Yes," another voice spoke up from nearby. It was Rey, accompanied by a slightly-limping Athrun and still-bandaged Lunamaria. "I just received the information from Deputy Captain Trine. Apparently it was that same group that showed up in the Balkans Conflict. It was those three black Rapiers that helped the Neo Freedom escape."

"Wait," Shinn snapped as a sudden realization dawned on him. "You mean the Freedom was behind this?!" _I should've __**known**__ it was Iyadomi all along!_

"That's _not_ what he said, Shinn!" Athrun pointed out, his expression drawn and very much annoyed. But Shinn utterly ignored him in favor of listening to Rey. Why should he bother listening to such a weak and pathetic pilot as Athrun when he had knew the Chairman had supported him?

"It was those three black Rapiers that did this," Rey said calmly. "Although, considering their actions during the Balkans Conflict, it isn't entirely out of the question to assume that Iyadomi was with them, even if the Freedom itself wasn't here."

So, even Rey agreed Shinn. It _was_ the Freedom! It was only logical, wasn't it? The Gundam hadn't been seen since that big battle in Romania, when it disappeared with the three black Rapiers. Given the damage that it had sustained, Iyadomi had likely taken refuge with that mysterious group to repair his machine. In the process, he'd managed to talk those pilots into joining his cause (if they weren't already part of it!) of spreading confusion and chaos throughout the world and furthering the war! Yes, it made _perfect_ sense!

'_If only I'd known what would happen, I'd have destroyed Iyadomi back on Junius 7!_' Shinn growled to himself in anger. '_I'm the __**Minerva**__'s super ace; I should've __**known**__ this would happen!_'

"H-Heine," Lunamaria stuttered, still not entirely accustomed to calling her superior officer his name outside of a combat situation. "I heard from Meyrin that you'll be receiving a new mobile suit soon. Have you heard anything from Headquarters about that?"

Smiling softly, Heine nodded. "Yes, I had been informed that my next unit will be arriving at the Gibraltar Base in about a month's time. And I can't help guessing that it's a specially-designed next-generation machine. Hopefully I'll be able to put it to good use soon… Though I haven't heard any news about you or Rey receiving new machines in the near-future, I'm sorry to say."

Waving off his apology, Lunamaria said, "As long as my arm's like this, I can't pilot anyway. No big deal." That wasn't entirely true, Shinn knew. Lunamaria _hated_ sitting on the sidelines while the men of the group went off to battle. It was for that reason that she had actually managed to become a Red Coat in the first place.

As the other pilots entered a good-natured conversation about potential new mobile suits and what their weaponry could possibly consist of, Shinn turned and looked back over at the ruins again. If he ever saw the Neo Freedom again, he'd destroy it _immediately_. No questions asked, no mercy given, and no warning provided, just like Iyadomi's cronies had done here!

On this site, Shinn made that oath.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 11, 74 CE  
Linz, Austria  
****9:00am**

"When it had first appeared during the Break the World incident, I had first assumed that Akira Iyadomi had been a good person with a strong, courageous heart," Durandal said, his expression seemed sad and slightly confused as he continued his speech. "And indeed his many actions following the outbreak of this terrible war have only seemed to strengthen that belief I held. Even when he had kidnapped Miss Lacus Clyne from under my security and care, I had believed that he was a good person who merely was going about ending this war in his own way."

'_What are you up to now, Durandal?_' Akira wondered to himself as he and the rest of the restaurant watched the live broadcast. '_And why do I have a bad feeling about this?_'

"And yet I now have evidence that he isn't the white knight that he has been trying to trick all of us into believing," Durandal continued, his gaze hardening ever-so-slightly, giving the impression that he was still angry for falling for the ploy that Akira seemed to be putting on. "In the past few days, numerous ZAFT bases have been attacked by the same mobile suits who had rescued the Neo Freedom in the Balkans Conflict."

The screen suddenly changed to show a live battle. Floating in the sky were two of the black Rapiers, attacking and destroying several ZAKU and BABIs, while the third Rapier went about incinerating the obviously ZAFT base, even mowing down fleeing personnel with its CWIS. Akira could only stare at the massacre as he felt his blood run cold.

"This new group of terrorists, who call themselves the '_Hands_ of Freedom,' have thus far attacked and destroyed over a dozen ZAFT outposts, patrols, and even seven civilian factories who had been kind enough to offer ZAFT supplies during this war. Over nine thousand, mostly civilians, have been killed due their attacks. They have struck without warning and spared no one within sight.

"And given the amount of damage that the Freedom had sustained during the battle in the Balkans Conflict, I think it would go without saying that the Gundam is still with this group of terrorists. With all this, it is only logical that Akira Iyadomi had a significant role in its creation if they were willing to name themselves after his machine. Clearly he has known what they were planning to do, maybe have even encouraged them to do it."

'_That is only conjecture_,' Akira accused silently.

"I am sorry that things have had to come to this, Akira Iyadomi," Durandal said, letting out a theatrical sigh of resignation. "But I will no longer sit by and allow you and yours to wreak havoc on our attempts to end this war quickly to return peace and order to our world. And I implore you, the people of Earth, to aid us in our efforts of locating and capturing not only Akira Iyadomi but his underlings, the Hands of Freedom. We must put a stop to them before they cause any more chaos and death."

Akira couldn't help but glare coldly at the screen. So that was what Durandal was up to, the clever bastard. And because Akira had thus far neglected to come forward with a public statement, in an attempt to hide his identity, Durandal was effectively using his lack of response to his advantage to steer public opinion against him. And, to a degree, Akira had to agree him. '_I __**am**__ responsible for setting this beast upon the world_.'

Durandal was continuing his speech, but Akira was no longer listening. Standing up, he mutely grabbed his plate of half-finished breakfast and moved towards the backroom. His movement was largely ignored by the rest of the customers, whose eyes were firmly glued to the PLANTs Chairman. However, at least two people had noticed his movement. One let out a small sigh of resignation, because she knew full well exactly what he was going to do. The other's expression was awash with confusion and undirected anger, but she quickly hurried after him.

"Is it true?" Meer demanded hotly in a loud whisper as she entered the backroom to find Akira washing his dishes clean. "Did you send those terrorists off to kill people?! I thought you weren't that kind of person!"

"I hold no responsibility to the Hands' actions," Akira said bluntly. "However, I am quite at fault for their creation… They said they had been 'inspired to fight' by watching me freeing cities and nations."

Meer said nothing in response, only staring at Akira with a tight and accusing glare. Her belief in the Chairman's infallibility was clearly still very strong.

"Please don't do anything rash while I'm gone," Akira said as he set his cleaned dishes aside. "Things are going to start getting very difficult for me very quickly… Please, I only ask that you keep an open mind for everything that is about to happen."

"…Where are you going?" Meer asked quietly as Akira moved past her and towards the backdoor.

Pausing on the threshold, Akira looked over his shoulder towards her. For just a split instant, she saw razor-sharp steel in his gaze. He was no longer the stoic pilot who tried to minimize collateral damage. He wasn't the simple traveler who acted like a common teenager trying to escape whatever chores his adopted parents wanted him to do. For just an instant, she saw a scorned warrior in those sharp violet eyes.

"Where am I going?" he asked as he closed his eyes and let loose an almost careless smile. "Why, I'm going…_hunting_."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Torino, Italy  
****9:16am**

Luna Ito couldn't help but frown slightly as she watched the speech that Durandal. Although she'd expected that the man would do something like this, the sheer fact that he'd had the nerve to explicitly state it so bluntly to the entire world had caught her by surprise. Calming herself, Luna's frown deepened slightly. The man was smarter than she'd originally believed. He was effectively painting the Neo Freedom in the role of being the creator and commander of the Hands, without any real proof either.

That was a very clever move. Now not only was he finally able to turn the public opinion the Freedom because of the actions of its 'underlings', he was guaranteeing the Hands' destruction. By the Freedom itself! After her brief meeting with the young man, Luna felt that she could already guess what his first reaction would be to their actions when he learned them. He'd seek them out and attempt to stop them from causing any more harm or destruction. He wanted to end the war without killing anyone. This sentiment, clearly shown in many of his battles, was what had caused people to start seeing as a hero.

However, it was a sentiment that none of the Hands' pilots agreed with. Maria was a bloodthirsty pilot who lived for the battlefield. Carter believed that a war could be won much quicker and easier if the number of experienced pilots and personnel decreased, so he killed as many as he could to prevent them from causing any more trouble in the future. Yoshi just simply hated Coordinators with a fiery passionate that would've been marveled by even the most die-hard Blue Cosmos supporter on the previous war.

'_It seems that the first stage of the plan has been completed_,' Luna observed calmly. '_Although I dislike that it's thanks to Durandal that it seems to be happening so __**quickly**__. We still haven't gained any real firepower and, as they are now, none of the Hands would last longer than __**five **__**minutes**__ in a battle with Iyadomi. This isn't good… Hopefully we have time on our side to—_'

A sudden beeping on her computer snapped her out of her thoughts. It was a high-priority message from their benefactor! What could he want now? Quickly scanning the message and comparing its identification codes, she opened the message and watched the video.

"Captain Ito," the man said, his face covered in thick shadows and his voice cold. "The time has finally come. With ZAFT taking this new approach, I have little doubt that the Freedom shall seek you out to destroy you. However, I do not wish for your destruction yet as you have proven to be an extremely efficient weapon. Therefore, I am entrusting you with the Alliance's latest and greatest weapons. Use these—" A side screen came up with the schematics of three new mobile suits. "—to complete your mission… I expect to hear good news from you in the near-future."

The video disappeared, but Luna ignored it as she reviewed the information given to her. The schematics of the mobile suits were…interesting to say the least. And Lally McWilliams had even provided their current location, security codes, and even false identifications in order to aid in their 'acquirement' of these new Gundams.

Slowly a small, ruthless smile spread across her face as she continued to review the various capabilities of these new machines. With these…they could _easily_ destroy the Neo Freedom!

"Thank you, Logos," Luna muttered to herself darkly.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Whoo, that chapter was much easier and funner to write than the previous one for some reason. I hope you all enjoy it, along with the foreseen(?) events that have taken place. So (A)Kira is hunting the Hands, the Hands seem ready to acquire new machines, and ZAFT is taking much more aggressive moves against them both. Do I foresee a potential three-way battle in the near-future? Perhaps...

A shout-out to my old friend **FictionReader98** and newcomer **Inferno Phoenix** for helping me with this chapter.


	19. Dawn of Aggression

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 19: Dawn of Aggression_

**January 14, 74 CE  
Toulouse, France  
3:16pm**

Infiltrating the Alliance testing facility was an exercise in boredom. Thanks to the identification that Captain Ito had provided them with, along with some fairly inventive acting on their parts, the gate guards had allowed them access without anything more than the common procedure hassle. Once inside, they were quickly found and guided through the facility by an undercover agent of theirs who'd been conveniently stationed there.

Now standing just around a corner of the hangar in which their new machines were waiting, Yoshi, Carter, and Maria mutely prepared for the small massacre that they were about to unleash. They loaded their automatic pistols, prepped a grenade or two, and unsheathed combat knives while pulling on some light body armor, all with the expertise of a trained assassin unit.

"There are about ten mechanics per machine," their guide whispered. "And about sixteen guards in total. Most of the mechanics are gathered around the computers and monitoring systems for the machines' final preparations." Turning back to his companions, the man said, "This is as far as I go. Good luck."

"Thanks for the help, sweetie," Maria purred as she suddenly seemed to materialize in the man's arms. Before he could react, she pulled him into a deep, fiery kiss of gratitude.

"We're behind schedule," Yoshi growled. Kami, he despised Maria at times like this!

Breaking off her kiss, Maria turned and pouted at Yoshi but she complied nonetheless. Leaving the slightly dazed spy behind, she joined her teammates at the corner. Seconds later, they sprung from hiding charged into the hangar. The brief firefight that ensued was just that: brief. Caught flatfooted and totally by surprise, none of the soldiers managed to find cover in time to escape the tsunami of deadly bullets fired their way, much less return fire.

Ignoring the stunned and terrified mechanics, the three rebels easily made their way towards their selected Gundams. As they were in the midst of boarding them, one of the mechanics had smashed the alarm, triggering sirens to flare to life in the facility. Sadly the mechanic didn't get far before Yoshi's grenade landed right in front of him, ending his life mere moments later.

Closing the cockpits, the three pilots immediately set to work booting up and refining the current OS of their machines. Fingers dancing over the keyboards, the three machines' eyes flashed ominously as they came to life. Moments later they shifted from their dull grays into their customary colors.

Carter's machine became a proud white with the boxy backpack, large beam cannons mounted upon it, and the shoulder and chest armor turning a dark blue. As it pulled free of its restraints, the large Schlag beam cannons folded behind its backpack swung up over its shoulders and fired, blowing open the hangar's locked doors. With pride, he launched his new Gundam out into the light of day.

Maria's machine turned a bright blood-red color. As she walked her machine out from smoking debris that had once been the hangar doors, she gunned the thrusters and was immediately pressed back into her seat from the sheer G-forces caused by the powerful engines. With all eight wings spread wide, she blasted off the ground at startling speeds.

Yoshi's maroon and orange armored Gundam walked smartly out of the hangar. Unlike the previous two, who had strong similarities to their 'father' machine, this mobile suit had neither a backpack nor wings. Instead it carried a large sword and beam bazooka upon the back of its shoulders and wore awkward looking waist armor that hung as far as its knees. Rising gently into the air, the third machine turned and surveyed the Alliance facility for any signs of trouble.

"_This Gundam is_ _**awesome!**_" Maria cheered giddily as she put her machine through a series of high-speed maneuvers that most other mobile suits couldn't even hope to mimic.

"_We don't have time to play around, Maria_," Carter said firmly as he and Yoshi rose higher into the air. "_Let's get these back to the __**Liberator**__ so we can plan our next move_."

"_AW!_" the excited lady pilot whined childishly. "_But I thought we could at least play with the factory down there for a little bit! Please?_"

"We're leaving now," Yoshi growled. Facing the bright red unit, his machine reached up and grabbed a hold of the hilt of his large sword. "Or I will destroy you right here and now."

"_Fine then_," Maria snapped as her mobile suit turned and flew up towards her partners as they pulled away from the facility. "_I'm coming, you pissy, old geezer_."

"I will enjoy killing you when the time comes," Yoshi promised, glaring slightly at his disobedient fellow pilot.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Djibril Manor  
3:30pm**

"Would anyone care to explain to me how this came to be?" Djibril asked in a surprisingly calm voice. It was an act, they all knew it. He knew that they knew that he was positively furious that this could've happened. Now, at what could likely have been the worst time possible! "How is that a trio of vigilantes could not only infiltrate a highly secret facility, but also make off with our latest Neo Freedom prototypes?"

Taking an almost idle sip of his beloved wine, Djibril watched the faces of his underlings with deep interest. Under his keen scrutiny, he found an interesting display of emotions on their various faces. But the one he saw on Lally McWilliams was certainly the one that had captured his attention almost immediately. "Is there something you'd like to _share_ with the rest of us, McWilliams?"

Chuckling at how quickly he'd been found out, Lally shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really, but I assume that you're likely going to throw another fit if I didn't."

"What have you done now?" Djibril demanded angrily, finally starting to let his real emotions slip to the surface.

"Why I merely transferred some highly-capable weapons into the hands of my newest undercover unit," Lally admitted, a sneer pulling at his lips. "And this unit is much more efficient than your beloved 'Phantom Pain.'"

"Explain," Alwin Ritter requested forcefully. "None of us are in the mood for these pointless games, McWilliams. Things are bleak enough without us going for each other's throats."

"True enough," Lally nodded in easy agreement. "You all are aware of that new group called the 'Hands of Freedom'? I created them with their ultimate goal being the destruction of the Neo Freedom."

For a moment there was silence that greeted his proud announcement. "And, I'm proud to say, that they have been performing far above what I'd originally hoped they would. Thanks to their attacks and Durandal's smear campaign, the majority of the public is no longer so willing to favor Akira Iyadomi over us or even ZAFT."

"You do realize that thanks to Durandal's speech the Freedom will seek them out and destroy them, right?" Lucs Kohler asked as though he were talking to a young child.

"But of course," Lally agreed, his sneer not fading in the least. "This is why I granted them access to the facility that was housing the Lacerater, Devastator, and Dominator. Those three machines will be more than capable of handling the Neo Freedom when it finally shows up."

"And what about our forces after they've destroyed that annoyance?" Djibril demanded, glaring heatedly at his underling. "Many of our future plans revolved around the firepower and capabilities of those three machines! Now that you've given them to civilians, there's a very good possibility that they'll end up in ZAFT's hands. Have you thought of that?! This is why you do _not_ take action _without_ informing the rest of us!!"

"Perhaps I've neglected to mention that Captain Luna Ito is the leader of the Hands?" Lally remarked idly. Seeing the surprised and relieved expressions of his fellow trillionaires, he continued, "She will have everything well under control after everything dies down. I have little doubt that she'll return our Gundams back to us in time for them to hear the Requiem play."

At the mention of their trump card, Djibril finally began to relax and adjust to Lally's information and plan. Yes, as long as they had those machines when they finally moved to let the Requiem sing its beautiful tune, they would ultimately emerge triumphant in this war of purification.

Giving Lally one final glare, Djibril hauntingly growled out, "They had _better_ be, McWilliams. They better be…"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 16, 74 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**, northern Spain  
8:53pm**

The pilot briefing room was currently housing four individuals. Seated in the front row chairs were Athrun, Heine, and Shinn with Captain Gladys standing near front wall. Projected upon the wall was the basic layout of a ZAFT base, a nearby civilian city, and the surrounding terrain.

"As you may have already realized, this is the location that we predict as the most likely target of the Hands of Freedom terrorist group," Gladys said, her voice stonily calm and composed. "The city and factory of Albacete has been a long supplier of metal frames and fixtures used in mobile suits and other weaponry for ZAFT since even the previous war. At the pace that we're currently setting, the _Minerva_ is expected to arrive shortly after six in the morning."

"Captain, how are we sure that the Hands will even appear at this site?" Heine asked.

"Unfortunately the source of this information was classified, even for me," Gladys replied in a stiff voice. Oh yes, Durandal was once again up to his games. And the fact that he didn't tell her where he learned this (among a few other things) was what was beginning to annoy her. "Suffice to say that the Chairman has every confidence that we're not walking into another trap."

Of the three pilots, only Shinn seemed to accept her statement immediately, looking almost relieved. Leaning forward slightly, Shinn asked, "What is our current attack strategy, Captain?"

"With help from the garrison stationed near the factory, we will be expecting an additional five mobile suits to aid in this battle," Gladys said, turning back to the projected map. "We'll station the Savior and Impulse here, in the small fields and pastures west of the garrison. You are to provide protection and backup for the garrison. The _Minerva_ will be waiting at the southern end of the factory about two miles five kilometers away from the garrison, here, to provide cover fire for the factory."

Turning back to the pilots, she looked somewhat resignedly at Athrun's slightly questioning expression. Holding up her hand to forestall his inevitable question, she said, "I'm well aware that you still aren't fit to pilot, Athrun. That is why I'm requesting that you allow Commander Westenfluss to use the Savior for the time being. I cannot allow any able mobile suits to just sit in the hangar for this mission."

"Of course, Captain," Athrun acknowledged easily, nodding his admission to his orange-haired commander next to him.

Nodding in response, Heine looked back at Gladys with his own questioning gaze. "Captain, is there any particular reason you feel that we should deploy both our remaining mobile suits for this mission? Last I heard, though those pilots are quite skilled, the Hands still only use Rapier mobile suits. I believe that Shinn could handle them all by himself." That statement drew a deeply self-satisfied smirk from Shinn.

"Unfortunately, yes, we must," Gladys said, gazing at Shinn. She wasn't sure that she liked that look on his face in response to Heine's compliment. "Along with this mission data I received, I have also been informed that the Hands have only recently acquired new machines: Gundams of unknown abilities. It would be extremely foolish to underestimate them."

That statement brought a sudden apprehension to the gathered pilots as they suddenly truly understood the situation they were in.

"This is going to be a very hard mission," Gladys said seriously. "Get some rest while you still can. Dismissed."

Standing up, all three pilots saluted the Captain in response to the dismissal. Upon returning it, the blonde woman exited the room. Turning back to his fellow FAITH agent, Heine let a small smile on his face. "Don't worry, Athrun. I'll bring the Savior back into one piece, I promise."

"The Savior can be replaced," Athrun said quietly. "Just make sure _you_ come back in one piece."

Nodding, Heine reached out and caught Shinn's shoulder as the younger pilot attempted to leave the room. Earning the boy's attention, the FAITH agent's expression drew into an extremely serious one. "Shinn, I know that the Captain didn't say anything about it but there's something I think you should really consider carefully about this mission."

"What?" Shinn asked, his curiosity plainly seen on his face.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that a _certain person_ could appear at some point during this mission," Heine said carefully, watching critically as Shinn's expression immediately changed from curiosity to anger. "And while I certainly don't pretend to understand what he's trying to achieve, if he does appear, it will likely be to destroy the Hands. Just like we are going to be doing. If he does appear, don't attack him."

"_Why?!_" Shinn demanded hotly. "Iyadomi is an enemy of ZAFT! He _doesn't_ deserve _any_ mercy for what he's done!"

"Shinn! He hasn't even attacked ZAFT!" Athrun barked immediately. "Not even when he kidnapped M—Miss Clyne, he didn't even kill anyone!"

"Of _course_ he hasn't attacked us," Shinn drawled, glaring fiercely at Athrun. "He had his _cronies_ do it for him. What he's doing is nothing better than _indiscriminate terrorism!_"

"In case you haven't realized it, Shinn," Athrun said seriously, restraining his rising anger as best he could. "Kira prefers to work _alone_. There is no way he'd try to rally people to his cause, even if it was maintain the Freedom while he continued to do his 'indiscriminate terrorism'. He is _far_ too independent to work with strangers like that for any real length of time!"

Loud coughing from Heine interrupted whatever response Shinn had been preparing to yell back at Athrun. "You both do have good points to support your individual points of view," he said diplomatically. "And until he is finally captured or gives a statement, we will never truly learn what he is trying to accomplish and whether the Hands are a part of his grand scheme or not. Thus, this argument is completely pointless."

Though both of his companions looked far from ready to concede from their beliefs, they did back down slowly.

"Getting back to the previous subject," Heine said, earning Shinn's fierce gaze yet again. "The reason that I'm asking you to not attack the Neo Freedom should it appear is quite simple. We are going into battle against a trio of unknown Gundams. And while I do believe that our allies at the Albacete Garrison will be more than willing to help, I don't believe that we'll be able to take down these new machines with just them for reinforcements. It would be much wiser to allow Iyadomi to help us in destroying them than to turn this battle into a three-way. After all, truthfully, Iyadomi still has yet to openly oppose us in this war… Do you understand, Shinn?"

The boy's fierce gaze didn't waver, but he nodded slowly.

"Don't make me turn this request into an order when we're out there," Heine warned seriously. "And unless the Freedom explicitly attacks us, I would greatly appreciate it if you left it alone."

Letting out a long sigh, Shinn nodded more readily. Though he couldn't help but pray to all that was holy and mighty that the Freedom _did_ attack him. So he could have the excuse of self-defense when he killed that _devil spawn_ of a human being—for good this time!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 17, 74 CE  
Near Albacete, Spain  
6:16am**

The sun had scarcely left the horizon, shining its blinding golden light down upon the earth. And emerging from the retreating shadows a trio of dark shapes rose up into the air. As they approached the awakening civilization in from of them, the three shadows split apart towards their own targets. The white and blue machine flew towards the factory that was visible on the opposite side of the city. The maroon and orange machine flew towards the ZAFT garrison that was nestled only a short kilometer away. And the blood-red machine was floating high between the two locations as a look-out. This proved to be a very good thing for the three attackers as the red Gundam had quickly been able to spot the incoming silhouette of a certain well-known warship.

"Hey, guys, it's the _Minerva!_" Maria declared over the radio. "Incoming from the north, almost four kilometers away still."

"_Hands_," Captain Ito's voice barked out. "_Switch to Phase Two, Plan Bravo Three! Maria, distract the __**Minerva**__ long enough for Carter and Yoshi to complete their objectives_."

"You got it!" the young woman cheered as she launched her Gundam towards the approaching ZAFT ship.

As she drew closer, the _Minerva_ launched a massive salvo of missiles and fired her large cannons directly at her. Coming to an immediate halt, Maria threw her Lacerater's chest up and a positron shield ignited in front of her Gundam. The missiles and cannon fire impacted heavily upon that shield, but they didn't penetrate it. Once the assault ceased, Maria literally came face to face with the launching form of the red Savior. The red ZAFT Gundam bodily tackled her Lacerater before she could react and sent them tumbling uncontrollably towards the ground.

As Maria managed to break free and spared herself impact with the ground, a warning came up on her screen showing the Impulse had just launched and formed into itself into its full form. Growling in annoyance at the sight of that pest, she brought up her shield and fired the Scorpion railgun that was installed in it. Predictably, the Impulse was able to dodge the shots before making a nosedive towards her.

Another warning sounded, the Savior was on its feet and was firing at her with its plasma cannons. Jumping away, she twisted and brought her shield up to block the beam that was still on course to hit her. The impact knocked her backwards slightly, just enough for her to spot the charging Impulse. Turning, she again used her shield to protect herself from her attacker's beam saber. Kicking out, the Lacerater hit the Impulse's torso and knocked it away from her. Before the Savior could get off another attack on her, Maria launched herself back up into the air and towards the _Minerva_.

Grabbing her Schwert Gewehr beam sword, Maria rushed forward to disable the Isolde railcannons. But before she could get close enough to deliver a crippling blow to the cannons' turret, a heavy impact upon her back reminded her of her previous enemies. Spinning around, she spotted the Impulse charging forward with its beam rifle firing at her. However, the Savior had transformed and was flying away towards the ZAFT garrison.

"Incoming, Yoshi," she called playfully over her radio. "The Savior is coming to save the day again!"

"_Be quiet!_" Yoshi barked hauntingly. "_I'm not in the mood for chitchat_."

The Impulse proved to be an immediate distraction that silenced the retort that was on Maria's tongue. It holstered its rifle and snatched a beam saber again, coming rocketing forward in an attempt to slice the Lacerater to pieces.

Opening up a link to the Impulse, she teasingly called over as she dodged and blocked his advances, "Sorry—not quite! You'll have to try harder than that, honey!"

"_You're a girl?!_" the Impulse's pilot asked, clearly surprised as his image appeared upon a side screen.

"And you're just a kid?!" Maria asked with disbelief and resignation in her voice. "Well, that's too bad. I was hoping for another yummy pilot, like Iyadomi, but can't have everything I guess."

"_What?!_" the boy demanded hotly. In clear anger, the Impulse gave a sudden shove that pushed the Lacerater a short distance away from him.

"I bet you're still sucking on your momma's tit, eh?" Maria continued, shaking her head woefully. "Such a shame, that is. You look like you might've become so—"

Little did Maria know, she'd just unknowingly tapped upon the hairline trigger that was Shinn's rage, unleashing the monster within. A bestial battle cry from the Impulse silenced her rambling as the ZAFT Gundam suddenly attacked with a whole new level of ferocity.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Just as Maria had reported, the Savior Gundam was soon tearing through the skies, showering beams and bullets down upon Yoshi's Dominator. Due to a lack of a shield, the maroon Dominator was forced to dodge all the attacks. Yoshi couldn't help but growl darkly under his breath as several bullets and beams splattered off his new Gundam. Whoever the pilot of the Savior was, he was sure a damn good shot, even for a wretched Coordinator! And he was just about to destroy the remainder of the defenders of the ZAFT garrison as well.

Taking advantage in the small pause created when the Savior transformed back into a mobile suit, Yoshi raised the waist armor and pointed it towards his enemy. "Giftzahn, attack!"

Launching out of the waist armor, six miniature DRAGOONs opened fire upon the Savior. The Savior's pilot was understandably surprised with the sudden appearance of the small DRAGOONs. It was only thanks to that surprise that the small beam weapons were able to blow off its right leg. But after that, the Savior went into immediate evasive maneuvers, sometimes dodging the small weapons by mere centimeters.

Taking out his large Schwerlast Degen anti-ship sword, Yoshi let out a furious howl as he launched himself forward in an attempt to cleave the red Gundam into two while it was distracted. But due to the erratic maneuvers it was taking, the Savior was able to slip away from Yoshi's strike as it blocked yet another beam blast on its upraised shield. Not giving the Coordinator a chance to retaliate, Yoshi turned and delivered a fast slash towards its cockpit, only to be blocked when the Savior drew one of its beam sabers.

Quickly withdrawing and allowing his Giftzahn to continue to occupy the space monster, Yoshi took a moment to reexamine his enemy. Whoever was flying that red machine was good, very good. He would have to play this safe until he could find an opening in the pilot's defense so he could destroy it.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

With the Savior busy attacking the Dominator and the Impulse distracting the Lacerater, the Devastator was left relatively unprotected. At first it started out small. Carter was busy destroying the factory, testing the limits of his own Gundam's DRAGOONs, when a warning popped up on his screen. Two ZAKU Phantoms that had managed to slip past Yoshi when the Savior arrived were bearing down on him.

Dispatching these two units proved to be surprisingly more difficult than he'd anticipated. The pilots of those ZAKUs continuously dodged and evaded each shot that Carter took at them, pushing the Guuls they rode upon to the very limits that they could fly. It came to the point that Carter was forced to swing the DRAGOONs on his backpack forward and send an unrelenting barrage of beams at them that he was finally able to shoot them down, not quite able to destroy them entirely.

After that little skirmish, he found himself under attack by the full power of the _Minerva_ itself. Wave after wave of Dispar missiles, Isolde railcannons, and even blasts of the Tristan beam cannons attacked him with a bitter coldness. They were trying to pin him down, if not outright destroy him. But it was thanks to his Gundam's maneuverability and his DRAGOONs versatility that allowed him to remain in the air.

'_They're not holding anything back_,' Carter quickly realized. '_They want to destroy us here and now. Capture likely is only a secondary motivation_.' "_Liberator_, what are your orders? I am unable to properly destroy the objective with the _Minerva_'s presence and I cannot destroy the _Minerva_ by myself."

"_Hands, switch to Phase Four_," came Luna Ito's command almost immediately afterwards. "_Fall back to a safe distance and proceed to Phase Five_."

"Roger," Yoshi and Carter responded simultaneously.

"_AW!!_" Maria whined yet again. "_But I'm finally having some real fun here! The Impulse brat is __**really**__ good!_"

"And that is why we're withdrawing, Maria," Carter countered. "We can't afford to lose, not now of all times! We're finally being taken seriously. So we must fall back in order to properly prepare for the next assault."

"_But I_—" whatever Maria was going to say was lost forever to Carter. For it was then that a sudden impact and explosion to his Gundam's backside knocked him out of the sky.

"What the?!" he yelled, very much surprised and angry. There was no one behind him a second ago!

The attack came without warning. It started with a pair of railgun blasts, one each aimed at Yoshi and Carter. Those attacks impacted their targets perfectly, knocking them off balance, even destroying the beam bazooka that the Dominator was carrying behind its left shoulder. But forewarned by those attacks, the next one missed its desired target. Maria was quickly able to guess from where those railguns had originated from and correctly guessed that she'd be targeted next.

That was how she was able to successfully dodge the plasma blast that had been aimed for her. However, due to how close she had been to the Impulse, Maria's sudden evasion exposed the ZAFT Gundam. The plasma blast completely destroyed the Impulse's right shoulder and heavily damaged the Force Silhouette, causing both to explode and sending the shell-shocked Gundam falling from the sky.

Ignoring the Impulse, Maria tried to locate the attacker yet there was nothing but empty skies in front of her. Suddenly, a large gray shape appeared a startlingly close distance away from her. Only her chemically-enhanced reflexes helped Maria to dodge backwards as her attacker drew a beam saber and took a vicious slash towards her. But even with her reflexes, the Lacerater still received a grazing cut across the front of her cockpit.

It was only after she'd put a safe distance between her and her new enemy that Maria finally identified it. It was the Neo Freedom! With its right camera-eye exposed and glowing angrily, it gave a sense of foreboding rage to the once-pristine Gundam.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're _doing?!_" she screamed furiously over an open radio channel, allowing everyone to hear her shocked rage. "_We're on the same side!!_"

"_Wrong_," a cold voice countered on the same channel. "_The three of you, and that battleship of yours, cannot __**possibly**__ be fighting for __**peace!**_" With his piece said, Akira Iyadomi immediately launched himself forward to incapacitate or otherwise destroy the murderous Gundam in front of him.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

As soon as he pulled himself back to his feet, Shinn turned to glare up at the thing that dared attack him while he was distracted, like a coward attacks! Yet what really annoyed him was that he, the _Minerva_'s super ace, hadn't even been able to react in time to dodge or defend against the attack. He'd show that bastard just who he was messing with as soon as he exchanged the damaged parts for new ones.

The damage to his Impulse's right shoulder was severe. The entire right arm had been completely blown off by that plasma beam. The Force Silhouette had also added a moderate degree of damage to the internal circuits and conduits when it exploded. Because of the close proximity, some of that superheated shrapnel had actually managed to penetrate the backside of the Gundam's headpiece, partially damaging the Impulse's camera systems. However, though the damage only caused a slightly fuzzy image to replace the once crisp and clear one, he had quickly managed to locate the new arrival to the battle.

His eyes widened significantly as he soon recognized the form of the Neo Freedom above him as it fought a ferocious battle with that new Hands Gundam. So it was the Iyadomi who'd attacked him?!

Now the sneak attack made sense. Iyadomi must've somehow found out about his vow to kill him and decided to take him out before he could carry through with his self-appointed mission. Of course, that made perfect sense! And as this revelation made itself known to Shinn, the boy's hairline temper snapped yet again as something exploded in the back of his mind.

"_Minerva_, send out the Chest Flyer and the Sword Silhouette!" he barked out angrily as he propelled the Impulse into a more convenient position to receive the replacement parts.

"_R-Right_," Meyrin acknowledged, slightly surprised at the amount of rage that had filtered through his voice. "_Chest Flyer, loading for launch; standby Impulse_."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Akira was attacking with a ferocity that was surprising even for himself. However, as he pressed on, his beam saber clashing violently at the Lacerater's beam sword, he 'sensed' the approach of the other two. One of them, the maroon and orange suit, was rushing in attack speeds with a massive sword drawn. The other unit was approaching much more cautiously due to its proximity to the _Minerva_, which seemed to be rotating to gain a more advantageous firing position on the battling machines.

With his awareness, he was far from surprised when the blood-red Gundam suddenly pulled back. Using the space gained by her retreat, Akira spun around and raised his shield protectively in front of his cockpit. Not an instant later, the Dominator's sword smashed heavily into the shield, leaving a startlingly deep gash in the heavy metal.

"_Come in, Iyadomi_," a confused voice called over the radio as Akira engaged the Dominator in combat. "_Why are you attacking us? We're doing this to help end this war before it further escalates, like the last one did_."

"You're wrong," Akira growled in annoyance as he attempted to penetrate Yoshi's defense. "You obviously don't understand what even _starts_ wars to begin with. So how should you be able to know what you're doing is wrong?!"

As Yoshi's large sword blocked yet another slash of his beam saber, Akira had to forcefully restrain his temper. Apparently Yoshi was an extremely skilled pilot, nearly as good as Akira himself. It was taking a good deal of his concentration to keep up with the savage and powerful attacks that Yoshi was dishing out. Batting aside Yoshi's sword yet again, he delivered an upwards slash, only to be blocked when Yoshi drew a beam saber with his Gundam's free hand.

Growling in deeper annoyance, Akira quickly put some distance between him and Yoshi. Sheathing his saber, he drew his beam rifle and began taking quick shots. Clearly that maroon Gundam had the advantage at close range, and since Akira had managed to destroy its bazooka, that limited its long-range attacks.

"_Taste my Giftzahn!_" Yoshi snarled in a rare moment of rage as his waist armor rose and eight small spikes appeared just inside as they prepared to launch.

But before he could finish whatever he was doing, Akira had already opened fire. He didn't know what those spikes were, but they sent his danger sense screaming. Yoshi quickly dodged the shots, using his large sword as a shield for some of the closer beams. _This is it!_ He just needed to blast the Dominator with everything he—_Danger!_

With the Freedom already in HiMAT mode, Akira was able to easily evade the source of what had sent his obscure sense ringing. Shooting like a rocket through the space where the Freedom had been was the newly-repaired and reequipped Impulse, a beam sword held clenched in its fists as it had clearly attempted to skewer the Freedom on it like a shish-kabob.

'_He must've mistaken my earlier attack as being directed towards himself_,' Akira realized, his annoyance growing as the Sword Impulse turned and gave chase to his still-retreating form. Opening a channel to the frequencies that ZAFT commonly used, he called out, "Back off, Impulse. I've got a job to do here, and you're interfering!"

"_I __**will not**__ allow you to continue to spread __**chaos**__ onto this world any longer, __**Iyadomi!**_" a loud, furious voice screamed back at him. "_I will kill you, __**right here, right now!!**_"

The Impulse came rushing forward again, sword posed for a vicious slash. Frowning deeply at the pilot's attitude and beliefs, Akira forced back any reply he intended to give. It was obvious the boy wasn't going to listen to reason. That would mean that he needed to take the brat down before he got lucky.

Something exploded in Akira's mind and he gained a sudden heightened awareness and reflexes. As the Impulse came rushing forward, Akira mimicked its maneuver, blasting forward at full throttle. Just when they were nearly upon one another, Akira brought his shield up, angling it perfectly, and expertly smacked the Impulse's sword away from him. This move clearly caught the boy by surprise, and with his Gundam still in the midst of charging forward at considerable speeds, he was little more than a sitting duck to Akira because of this. Punching the maneuvering thrusters he'd long ago installed in the Freedom's wings, Akira was able to roll slightly to the side and dodged the rampaging Impulse's body. As he was spinning, the Freedom's leg shot out and kicked mightily into the ZAFT Gundam's torso, knocking it haphazardly to the side.

As the Impulse was sent careening head over heels, Akira finished his roll and aimed once again at the Dominator. A flash of red off to the side of his monitor caught his attention. It was the Savior Gundam flying towards the group at impressive speeds. Pausing, Akira and the three others each turned and prepared to defend themselves.

'_Will you follow your friend's example?_' Akira couldn't help but wonder as the Savior drew closer. Then the Savior's Amfortas cannons suddenly opened fire, arcing past the Freedom and sending the Dominator and Lacerater dodging.

"_Sorry about Shinn_," a calm voice sudden chimed over his radio. "_He's a little impulsive when it comes to certain things. And just to clear the air, our primary objective is those three Gundams there. I promise that Shinn will be adequately punished for disobeying his orders once this is through._"

"Well that's nice to hear," Akira remarked dryly. At least this one seemed more like a professional than the Impulse's pilot—Shinn?—was in terms of being a soldier. "You take the ugly one, I'll handle the rest."

"_Which one's the ugly one?_" the Savior asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Take your pick!" Akira said as they rushed towards the three Gundams in almost perfect synchronization.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

By this time, Shinn had managed to regain control of his Gundam and was flying back to attack Iyadomi again. His temper was rising uncontrollably at the realization that even with his 'battle calm', the Freedom had still be able to manhandle him like a adult knocking a child aside! That was a grave insult, and he'd make that bastard pay for it! Dearly!

Because his focus was solely upon the winged machine in front of him, Shinn failed to take into account exactly where he was and what was going on. He was actually almost upon the Freedom, sword raised to deliver a slash down its center when a red blur suddenly seemed to materialize out of nowhere in front of him, easily blocking his Excalibur beam sword with its own.

"_Don't go forgetting that __**I'm**__ your opponent, __**baby-face!**_" that bitch giggled over the radio as she knocked him away. Raising her shield, the Lacerater began repeatedly firing its railgun and sending Shinn into a crazy dodging and blocking pattern. "_Come on, boy! I wanna see what makes you such a damn fear to the Alliance's pilots! Fight me seriously! I wanna have some fun before I kill you!_"

"Fine then!" he growled in rage. She was purposely blocking him from reaching Iyadomi. That meant that he'd just have to kill her to reach her leader. "Here I come!!"

Seeing the Impulse stopping its dodging, the Lacerater immediately ceased its firing. Flicking its arm to the side, the Scorpion shield detached itself and fell to the ground below. Then the wings upon its backside suddenly detached, revealing themselves to have been a new type of Striker pack all along. The wings flew off to the side, clearly on automatic pilot, as their Gundam prepared for full, unhindered combat.

"_Let's play, baby-face!_" the bitch cheered over the radio as she sudden went into an unexpected _fast_ charge.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Luna watched the three battles with interest and annoyance. Though she had anticipated the appearance of the Neo Freedom, the accursed _Minerva_ and its Gundams had thrown a massive monkey wrench into her plans. Without the _Minerva_ present, the three new Gundams would've been able to concentrate their firepower and abilities, probably even have been able to takedown the Freedom within the first ten minutes of combat. But with the _Minerva_ present, their machines were now forced to divide in order to protect themselves adequately at the skill and expertise of the ZAFT pilots.

Things had gone from bad to worse right from the appearance of the _Minerva_. Because of the meddling ship's appearance, the Hands hadn't been able to completely finish their missions before they were drawn off. And though the Hands' Gundams were quite a bit superior to the Savior and Impulse, the battle between them would've been a long and tiring one. Then the Freedom showed up and launched a surprise attack, delivering considerable damage to the Devastator in particular by shredding two of its DRAGOONs.

While the Hands could handle either the _Minerva_ or Freedom alone, with the two together it was proving to be a fast losing battle. Though Luna had hoped against hope that the ZAFT forces might've decided to turn a blind eye to the Hands in favor of destroying the Freedom, those hopes had especially skyrocketed when the Impulse suddenly attacked Iyadomi for that accidental misfire. But then the Savior appeared and started working with the Freedom to fight the Hands. That meant the tide of battle was without a doubt against them. She had no choice. Against these odds, their chances of achieving their goals, let alone victory, had plummeted dramatically.

Turning to her Lieutenant, she said, "Launch signal flares, we're withdrawing immediately from the area. Pull the _Liberator_ back to the designated location immediately following the flare launch."

"Yes, madam!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

The three flares that were launched from a surprisingly close location to the battlefield were quickly noticed by everyone in the area. However, it was quite obvious that most of the combatants weren't quite ready to call it quits. Two in particular were clashing no less violently with each other than they had been before the flares appeared.

Yelling out in his blind rage, Shinn grabbed his Flash-Edge boomerangs and hurled them towards the Lacerater. Taking a hold of his Excalibur beam sword, he immediately sent the Impulse charging towards his enemy. Maria simply activated her Schneidschutz positron shield to block the boomerangs and forced the Impulse to immediately cease its charge, lest it break its remaining Excalibur upon the shield like it had with its other one earlier.

With the Impulse momentarily halted, Maria dropped her shield as she threw her own boomerangs at him. As the Impulse was busy dodging and blocking the beam weapons, she then grabbed the pair of beam daggers that were hidden in the Lacerater's forearm armor and hurled them at the Impulse while it was distracted.

Thanks to which direction the Impulse had chosen to turn as it was once again facing its enemy, the daggers bounced harmlessly off the shield attached to its left arm. Had the Impulse turned from the opposite direction, the daggers would've buried themselves in the Gundam's torso, likely killing Shinn within seconds of penetration. Not even stopping to consider his near-death, Shinn let out a bestial howl as he once again launched himself into a charge, Excalibur out front and center.

Seeing the intent of the infant piloting the ZAFT machine and blatantly ignoring Carter's orders to retreat, Maria took out her own beam sword and launched herself forward as well. This fight was just too much fun to stop now! This kid was good, very good! So he was definitely worth the effort to kill at any cost. Screw the punishments that she would likely receive afterwards! She was having fun and she refused to stop until she'd finally proven to the brat before her that he was nothing compared to her!

With loud battle-cries from both of them, the Impulse and Lacerater threw themselves into a suicidal frontal charge. He would end the bitch here and now, and then it was Iyadomi's turn! She would prove that he was inferior to her, because she was the greatest destroyer to ever have lived! Beam swords out and ready, they clashed.

Instinctual reflexes faster than any normal Coordinator were the only things that saved Shinn's life in that clash. As the Lacerater bore down upon him, he managed to angle the Impulse's flight path just enough that when its sword struck, it only stabbed in the Impulse's left shoulder, narrowly missing the cockpit. The Lacerater, on the other hand, was stabbed straight through the torso. In the blink of an eye, Maria and her machine found themselves nearly torn into two pieces by the Excalibur buried within them. Maria died within seconds, unable to comprehend just what was happening to her and why she had failed.

Only chance allowed the Lacerater to fall from the sky without exploding. Had the Excalibur hit just a few short feet lower, it would've ruptured the Lacerater's Neutron Jammer Canceller, with an atomic explosion the inevitable outcome of such an accident.

Panting heavily from the sheer amount of physical stress he'd endured in the fight, Shinn barely had the sense of mind to land his Impulse upon ground next to his defeated opponent. As he did so, the batteries finally ran dry and the VPS armor faded immediately afterwards. But Shinn didn't care, he'd won.

'_Now all that's left is Iyadomi_,' he snarled to himself, turning the Impulse to look in the direction that he'd last seen the Freedom being at.

It was still there, floating off to the side, wearily watching the also-drained Savior and the _Minerva_. Though the Savior had also landed awkwardly on the ground below and posed no immediate threat, the _Minerva_ was another matter altogether. In its current state of being partially damaged still, the Neo Freedom could still manage to cause significant damage to the ZAFT warship if it wanted. And knowing Iyadomi, the bastard was probably seriously thinking about it before he hightailed it out of here like his cronies did!

"_Minerva_," Shinn barked. "Activate the Deuterium Beam, and send out the—!"

"_Stand down, Shinn_," Heine's voice interrupted. "_You've already destroyed one of the Hands' Gundams, the other two are in full retreat, and the Freedom isn't attacking us either. The battle is over_."

"Yeah, but—"

"_Shinn_…" there was a definite warning in Heine's tired voice as he drawled out Shinn's name. "_Unless we are explicitly attacked, this battle is over. Our objective was to intercept and destroy the Hands, if possible. Remember?_"

"Yes, sir," though he said it, Shinn was far from ready to quit. The Freedom was right there! And they weren't letting him go after it?! What were they thinking?! They had a chance to end its madness here and now, and yet they were likely going to just let it escape?!

As if reading his mind, the Freedom suddenly holstered its weapons and blasted high into the air. After gaining a certain elevation, it vanished from sight as its accursed Mirage Colloid was activated.

Shinn let out a frustrated howl as he watched his prediction came true.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Bonaparte**_**, Russian Steppes  
9:23am**

There was a fierce snowstorm raging outside the mechanic behemoth known fittingly as the _Bonaparte_. This massive land battleship was the very pinnacle of conventional weaponry development with many missile launchers, a massive amount of CWIS cannons, a hangar capacity for almost fifty standard mobile suits. Even if it were all alone, even the greatest of ZAFT aces would hesitate at having to face down such a monster battleship.

From his seat in the captain's quarters, Neo Roanoke watched the footage of the battle taking place. Apparently the news crew of the city that it was taking place near had braved the hazardous zone as they went about showing it on live television to the entire world. And it was indeed a very impressive fight, especially when the Neo Freedom had started fighting alongside the two ZAFT Gundams. He couldn't help but find himself impressed by the sheer combat potential of the three unknown machines that had initiated the attack.

However, what was more impressive was the seemingly never-ending amount of improvement that the Impulse's pilot had shown. The boy was a far-cry from that lucky but awkward newbie who he'd fought against outside Armory One on the day of the Gundam thefts. He had fought toe-to-toe against a clearly superior machine and won. And it was all thanks to his ability to quickly adapt and his impossibly fast reflexes. Neo couldn't help but wonder just how well he'd be able to fight against the boy now. They hadn't fought since they encounter in the Indian Ocean only a few short months ago.

But as impressed by the Impulse's pilot as he was, he was more so by the Freedom's pilot. Neo had long since realized that the pilot, this Iyadomi that everyone was calling him, was a first-rate pilot in all regards. He clearly had the experience of a true veteran, he pulled no punches when he fought, and yet he didn't kill needlessly. Iyadomi had a sense of honor about him that Neo couldn't help but finding himself respecting.

So when Chairman Durandal had started that smear campaign of naming Iyadomi as the leader and creator of the Hands, Neo had quickly discovered the truth of the matter by reading between the lines. Durandal was frantically trying to discredit Iyadomi now that he was clearly on the verge of victory. Sadly though, it seemed to be working. And Neo had little doubt that this latest battle would only be used to further fuel the fire that Durandal was tenderly feeding. Suffice to say, Akira Iyadomi was likely to face some hard times and bad press in the near-future unless he finally came out of the shadows.

An incoming call broke Neo from his thoughts. Muting the news report he'd been watching, he opened the incoming call to see Lord Djibril's face on the screen. The man had a surprisingly calm expression on his face, especially considering that he no doubt knew of the destruction of one of his pet projects. And if he were calling now, then that could only mean one thing.

"Captain Roanoke, what is the current status of the Destroy's pilot's combat efficiency?" the man demanded.

"Stellar has achieved over ninety percent of combat potential in the standard simulations," Neo reported neutrally, as his role dictated. "In the…_special_ simulations, Stellar has shown a seventy-five percentage of victory, and gradually rising as she grows more accustomed to its standard attack pattern."

"Good, very good," Djibril practically purred in his delight at such good news.

With her beating that Gundam three out of four times, it showed some serious promise that she just might be able to on the real battlefield. But if Neo had learned anything in his life, and especially as the commander of Phantom Pain, then it was that even if she scored a straight hundred percent of victory in simulations, that was still no guarantee that she could still beat her enemies in reality. And with as much as he cared for the girl, on top of the sheer threat that she represented when piloting the Destroy, Neo found himself honestly fearing for the girl's life when she finally crossed paths with him again.

"I would also like to report that the retraining of our Rapier pilots has also bore fruit," Neo continued, no less neutrally than he did earlier. "They have achieved an average of eighty percent combat potential with their Rapiers. All that's left is to deploy them to gain actual experience, sir."

"Good, very good," Djibril repeated, his sneer widening slightly. This was much better news than he'd been hoping for, and much quicker than he'd anticipated receiving it. Then it was time.

"I assume that you've seen the news already," Djibril said, his tone dangerously suggesting that it was in Neo's best interest to confirm his assumption. Upon receiving the blond captain's nod of acknowledgement, he continued, "Then I believe it's finally time for you to bring order back to Western Eurasia. I don't care how many cities you burn, you will not cease until they've surrendered themselves unconditionally back to the Alliance."

"Yes, sir," Neo said, acknowledging the order he had been dreading hearing for quite some time. This was _not_ the reason that he'd enlisted into the Armed Forces all those years ago! But orders were orders. And soldiers followed their orders to the letter.

Thus, Western Eurasia would burn.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Whoo, that was a work out. I really hope you all enjoyed the big battle scene. And thank you **FictionReader98** for giving me that 'missed shot/hit the Impulse' idea. That was just what I needed to get the drive to finish the chapter.

**GAT-X170 Lacerater** (_very_ loosely based on the M1 Astray Red Frame)  
Unit type: prototype melee combat mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)  
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor  
Color: Red/gray (body), red (wings)  
Equipment and design features:  
Maneuvering thrusters across the entire body and wings for heightened agility  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest  
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders  
1 x shield, mounts M443 "Scorpion" mobile railgun, mounted on left arm  
"Schneidschutz" SX1021 positron reflector shield, mounted on chest  
1 x MA-BAR721 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist  
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips  
2 x EX08A beam dagger, stored in forearm armor  
Wing Pack: (can be discarded for increased mobility)  
1 x "Schwert Gewehr" 15.78 meter anti-ship sword, stored on the wings' base  
1 x MX-RQB516 beam lance, stored on wings' base

**GAT-X271 Devastator** (Infinite Freedom's concept, based on Tallgeese II and Providence)  
Unit type: prototype artillery mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)  
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor  
Color: white (body), dark blue (backpack)  
Equipment and design features:  
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head  
1 x "Scylla" 580mm multi-phase energy cannon, mounted on chest  
2 x "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on backpack, folded over shoulders when in use  
1 x MA-MV05A composite shield, mounted on left forearm  
4 x M2M3 76mm beam cannon, mounted on shield  
1 x beam saber, mounted on shield  
4 x M2M3 76mm beam cannon, mounted on right forearm**  
**2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips  
Remote weapons:  
6 x DRAGOON System, mounted on backpack and waist (6 x general type beam cannons)

**GAT-X272 Dominator** (based on Gundam Throne Zwei)  
Unit type: prototype attack mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)  
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor  
Color: maroon/orange  
Equipment and design features:  
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head  
1 x "Todesblock" 337mm plasma-sabot bazooka, stored on left shoulder mount  
1 x "Schwerlast Degen" anti-ship heavy buster sword, stored on right shoulder mount  
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips  
Remote weapons:  
10 x DRAGOON "Giftzahn" System, mounted on backpack (10 x mini-beam cannons and anti-armor penetrators)


	20. Falling from Grace

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 20: Falling from Grace_

**January 17, 74 CE  
****ZAFT Garrison near Albacete, Spain  
****12:30pm**

It had been scarcely two hours since the battle. Outside, the remaining ZAFT garrison personnel were hurriedly rushing about to find as many survivors under the debris that had formerly been their outpost. Sadly, yet predictably, the search was proving fruitless and was driving a deep stake of despair into the hearts of many involved as they found one mangled corpse and disembodied limb after another.

What kind of monsters could do such a thing as this?! This was the common thought tread that many of them were sharing as they went about their work. Their only saving grace was the fact that one of the demons had finally been brought down by the famous Impulse super ace pilot. Regardless of whatever happened to the boy next, they'd always be grateful and support him for his heroic efforts here today. Him and the Savior's pilot as well!

However, unknown to them, their great savior was _not_ getting a hero's welcome aboard his mothership. To a degree, Athrun was relieved that he didn't have to participate in that…discussion. Shinn had all but ignored the orders of a superior officer and his combat commander, choosing to follow his own impulses. This matter was indeed a grave one because, like the incident with the Extended girl, Shinn had once again blatantly disregarded orders and military doctrine to pursue his own ideals. Though this time was arguably a much more severe crime than his last incident, because it had happened in the midst of battle where lives of many were on the line. It was really only luck that things hadn't degenerated after Shinn's attack on the Neo Freedom.

Although, to a very small amount, Athrun could also understand why Shinn had done what he'd done during the battle. He had been given strict orders not to attack unless he was attacked and in a sense he had been. Although, the fact that the Neo Freedom hadn't followed up on it while Shinn had been disoriented should've been enough for the boy to realize that it had been an accident. Yet Athrun knew that Shinn had merely used the attack as an excuse to attack the one he deemed to be the master of all evils.

Though how the young ZAFT Red had come to hate Kira so much was beyond Athrun's current understanding because he never talked about his reasons, his _real_ reasons, for it. But there was no denying that as his skill and experience grew, Shinn had rapidly grown to view himself as being an invincible super ace. He seemed to believe that ending the Neo Freedom's 'reign of terrorism and chaos' was a job that only he could accomplish. How the boy had come to this conclusion was beyond Athrun's understanding, but it was obviously a new and powerful driving force in the boy.

Whatever respect that the two of them had had for one another during their early engagements together was no longer there anymore. Shinn treated Athrun with a clearly mocking air of respect, because he believed that he was as untouchable off the battlefield as he was on it. Athrun, for his part, was really starting to get fed up with this new flare of disrespect.

He refused to reprimand the boy on account of that. They were soldiers, fighting in a war. Personal disputes like what was happening between them were only a minor annoyance in comparison to the mission objectives of the battlefield. Besides, there was always the chance that Shinn would eventually realize that he was being an immature brat and snap out of it. And by antagonizing the boy, he was only playing into the boy's game, encouraging him.

Athrun was merely trying to be a professional in the only occupation that he had ever really been good at. But Shinn's new attitude was starting to make it very difficult, especially when it came to arguments over Kira's actions and the consequences of them.

Shaking his head to rid it of those thoughts, Athrun returned his gaze back to the sight he'd been watching earlier. It was the loading of the Gundam that Shinn had managed to defeat into a transport. And the FAITH agent certainly didn't envy those who had to do the job because he'd heard the pilot had made quite a mess in the cockpit when she'd been killed. Whatever their plans for it were, it was almost guaranteed that there was something they wanted from this machine.

From what Athrun had heard, the machine was to be transported to Gibraltar where it would be analyzed and then disassembled. However, Athrun couldn't help but frown at the idea. He just couldn't believe that the military would willingly throw away a mostly intact mobile suit like this Gundam. All it needed was some repairs, recalibrations of various systems, most likely needing several Natural-friendly systems replaced for Coordinator-friendly ones, and then an able pilot and it would be fit to fight, within a month's time at the earliest.

"Want some company, Athrun?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway of the observatory deck that Athrun was standing in.

Glancing back at his superior officer, Athrun shrugged slightly in response. Taking that as an invitation, Heine walked fully inside the compartment and stared out the windows down at the loading scene below them.

"How's Shinn's punishment being handled this time?" Athrun asked after a moment of silence.

"He's being held in the brig again for the moment and the Captain is sending a report to Headquarters," the orange-haired Commander responded easily. "We should be hearing back from them within a few hours at the earliest. Although, considering the fact that he _did_ destroy one of the Hands, I doubt that he's going to get anything more than a warning. The Chairman would be a fool to pull one of our best and remaining pilots off the roster, especially when the Impulse is currently our only fully operable mobile suit."

"That's kinda what I thought too," Athrun admitted quietly.

The sad truth of the matter was that thanks to the damage inflicted to the Savior during the battle, no matter how marginal it was, the Gundam had to be pulled off the active-duty roster until it was properly repaired. Although the _Minerva_ was fully stocked with replacement parts for each mobile suit it carried, it would still take almost a week for the repairs to be completed. A lot could happen in a week's time. And of all the pilots on the _Minerva_, only Shinn was fully trained in piloting the Impulse, which was a tricky machine to fly, especially when they had to do the alignment and attachment or detachment of the various modules. Yes, to pull Shinn off the Impulse would be a very foolish idea indeed.

"That pilot of the Neo Freedom is quite an interesting person," Heine said suddenly, a strange smile on his face.

"You talked to him?" Athrun asked, slightly surprised.

"Only for a little bit, after Shinn attacked him," Heine explained, his smile widening slightly at some memory. Glancing at his companion, he continued, "I understand that you believe you were once friends with him. If he was always anything like he was during that fight, I think I can understand why you're so loyal to his memory."

"What did he say?" Athrun asked, both curious and desperate to hear Heine's opinion.

"Not much actually," Heine admitted, returning his gaze out the window as he leaned onto the railing in front of them. "But he did signal his emotions through the ways that his mobile suit had moved. I could tell that he was angry at the Hands, yet sad that he had to fight them like that. He didn't seem like he was a bad person and he never seemed to aim for the cockpit itself."

Glancing over at Athrun's slightly wistfully smiling expression, Heine's smile faded slightly. "If things were different, I wouldn't mind getting to know him better myself."

"Yeah, if only," Athrun quietly agreed, returning his gaze to the activity outside. "Let's just hope that after this war is over, we still have the chance to do so. I have _so many_ questions of my own."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Linz, Austria  
****12:45pm**

She was in the middle of delivering yet another midday meal for a customer. After spending several weeks doing this same routine under the watchful guidance of her host and partial friend, Meer was finding herself growing extremely adept in the duties of her 'job.'

"Thank you, Meer," the customer said gratefully as she set down the teenager's meal in front of him.

This young man, who was clearly still in high school, had been among some of the more recent customers who'd started dining here since Meer's arrival. To a small degree, Meer kind of liked him because his awkward attempts at flirting with her were very flattering. And though Meer would proudly proclaim that she was still very much in love with her dear fiancée Athrun Zala, she had silently admitted that this boy's eyes were very beautiful, almost as much as Athrun's were.

The sixteen year old Natural, Herrick Hildebrand, just smiled up at her and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible when he watched her as she walked away. There was a certain sway to her hips that was very alluring to a teenager like him. It was thanks to his attention being solely attached to her bum that he failed to notice exactly what was happening around him, or what had caused her to suddenly stop only a few strides away from him. But when he did notice the unusual silence a few moments later, he did look up in time to see a news update taking place on the television.

On the screen was a mobile suit battle taking place. Being a simple teenager, Herrick simply watched the screen with a wistful expression on his face. He wished that it was him that was one of the pilots of those battling mobile suits. For a moment, dreams of fame and glory were intermixed as he watched the battle taking place. If that was _him_ in there, he'd probably easily crush those three terrorists like they were nothing but—that was when the Freedom attacked.

With the sudden appearance of the Gundam whose pilot he worshipped above all others, Herrick's attention was instantly snapped back to reality as he began paying extremely close attention to the still-battle damaged machine as it fought. This return to reality was also what allowed him to hear a voice that he and most of the Earth had come to recognize quite easily.

It was the ZAFT Supreme Chairman, Gilbert Durandal.

"—appears to be fighting the Hands, I implore upon you all to not be fooled by this seeming display," Durandal was saying, his voice carrying a faint not-quite-there edge to it. "This is clearly just an act by Iyadomi in an attempt to further confuse us to the exact nature of his intentions."

As he was speaking, the screen was suddenly filled with a high-speed clash of two red Gundams stabbing each other through their cockpits. But where the unfamiliar one suddenly lost power and fell from the sky dead, the second one that Herrick recognized as the Impulse continued to hover in the sky victoriously over the wreckage of its enemy.

"This here is the real hero of the battle," Durandal's voice continued as scene was momentarily frozen to allow the audience to fully view the partially damaged Impulse. "Unlike Iyadomi, who had ultimately allowed the remaining two Hands to escape—" The screen shifted to showing the two remaining Hands flying off to the horizon at top speeds while the Neo Freedom was hovering near the _Minerva_, watching it and the all red Gundam wearily.

"—the pilot of the Impulse had managed to defeat one of the Hands before his machine had run out of power. And if the pilot of the Neo Freedom had indeed intended to destroy the Hands, as he tries to imply by this battle, why did he attack the Impulse when he'd first arrived?" The screen again shifted to show the exact moment of time that the Chairman was speaking of, when the Freedom had accidentally blown the Impulse's right arm off.

The screen then was filled with Durandal's face which was drawn into a tight expression. That expression alone immediately told Herrick that whatever he was about to say was of something of extreme importance and not something good either.

"I'm sure that many of you are wondering why I'm trying to turn you against this person, Iyadomi," he said in a rather blunt statement. With a small sigh, the man continued, "I will admit that I was hopeful that this young man would eventually cease his criminal activities when it became clear to him that we do not appreciate his attempts at ending this war, especially when it results in more death and destruction because of his underlings' interventions. But I have recently come across some rather disturbing information into this young man's past."

_His past?!_ Herrick sat up ever-so-slightly straighter. There was so little known about Iyadomi as a person, only his actions and interventions in the war, and the fact that he was using an alias were known to the public. Herrick, and a good deal of the populace, was starved for more information about the controversial hero.

"According to a loyal informant of mine," Durandal continued softly. "This young man, this Akira Iyadomi, had been an orphan who was found and raised for as long as he could remember by a band of blood-thirsty pirates."

There was a moment of absolute silence permeating the small restaurant after that statement. …What?! He was raised by pirates?! That was ridiculous! But Durandal wasn't finished yet.

"They had taught him their ways. How to fight, how to pilot, and how to accomplish his goals while delivering the maximum amount of necessary damage to his enemies as possible," Durandal's expression was completely serious. "He had taken the name of ZAFT's pilot 'Akira Iyadomi' as means of covering his true identity from all of us. I strongly believe that when he finally achieves whatever his goals are in this war, he would then return to society with his previous identity and live without the repercussions of his deeds of today."

"I am sorry to say that we still are unable to determine his exact identity thus far," Durandal said, clearly in the closing of his speech. "That is why I implore upon you, the people of the Earth, once again to aid us in capturing this criminal and the rescue of Miss Lacus Clyne before he attempts to divide us further from one another. We must all stand tall and resolute in the face of a terrorist like him."

Durandal's face was replaced with a picture of the Neo Freedom as it was hovering near the _Minerva_ as the two Hands fled in defeat, the exposed eye-camera seeming to glow in a new and deadly light. Herrick found himself torn for a moment. Akira Iyadomi was raised by pirates? But…he had still been responsible for saving _many_ lives on the battlefield, _including_ Herrick's father. Iyadomi was a good person!

Wasn't he?

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Aprillis 1, PLANTs  
****2:13pm**

Sitting in his chair, Durandal let a small smile across his face. The world was in confusion again over whether to believe his statements of Iyadomi's past or not. He knew that they would continue to discuss the sudden revelation for weeks to come as they tried to decide who to believe in. A recognized politician who was the leader of an entire nation, shown to be a strong believer of carrying out what he thought was for the good of the people (Coordinator or Natural), and was seen as a man who kept to his word. A man who they all knew was working to end the war as quickly as he could, and someone who they thought that they knew what his intentions were. Or a faceless Gundam pilot who, despite his many interventions and attacks, had yet to even give a statement of his intentions.

Ultimately, the man who they could put a face to the name would triumph.

A sudden buzz on his intercom system drew him out of his thoughts. "Yes?" he asked, tapping the link.

"Sir, I have a Mr. Hajime Yatate waiting for a meeting with you," his secretary answered immediately.

"I see," Durandal acknowledged as he remembered that this was arranged meeting time. "Very well, please send him in."

"Hai," the man said quickly before cutting the connection.

A few moments later, a rather nondescript man walked into the office. He wore a ZAFT Red uniform with his FAITH badge pinned proudly to his collar. The man came to a halt just in front of Durandal's desk and threw a fast, perfect salute.

"Captain Hajime Yatate reporting as ordered, Supreme Chairman," the man said formally, holding his salute for a moment before lowering it at Durandal's nod. "What are your orders, sir?"

"I have reviewed the information you've brought to my attention," Durandal said calmly as he brought up the said data on his computer. "And your assessment is correct; we do have grounds for an attack on this…factory. Though I'm curious as to why it has taken you this long to bring this information to me."

"I'm sorry, sir," Captain Yatate said neutrally. "For the past few weeks, the factory has been subjected to repeated attacks by numerous factions and the Captain wasn't allowing anyone to leave until he'd deemed it safe. And the engineers had been ordered to keep the projects secret until such a time it was deemed necessary to reveal them. I believe that the Captain had done this to cut back on unnecessary rumors among the crew."

"I see," the Chairman said quietly. "Clearly this Captain is quite familiar with leading his crew."

"He is among one of the best I've ever seen, sir," Yatate admitted.

After a moment of careful contemplation, Durandal nodded to himself before reaching into one of his drawers and extracted a small folder. Handing them to the Captain, he said, "These are your new orders, Captain. You're to depart immediately and rendezvous with the _Minerva_ in Western Eurasia as soon as possible."

Opening the folder, the Captain quickly reviewed the orders with his eyes widening ever so slightly in his surprise. "Sir?"

"That is correct," Durandal nodded. "Carry it out immediately. I believe you will have the advantage should you ever cross paths with that boy again. You did help to teach him how to fight after all. Isn't that right, Lieutenant Hidai?"

Captain Yatate merely raised an eyebrow at the use of his codename. Quickly closing the folder, he snapped into another picture perfect salute, "Yes, sir. Captain Hajime Yatate will carry out this mission to best and fullest of my abilities."

"I expect nothing less," Durandal said smiling lightly. With that said, the Captain immediately turned to exit the room. Before he left though, Durandal called out, "And thank you for providing me with that extra information on Iyadomi, it has proven to be most _insightful_."

"Anything for my homeland, sir," the spy uttered in a quiet voice, his face hidden in shadows. "And I _hate_ pirates."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 18, 74 CE  
Warsaw, Poland  
****7:26am**

Stellar watched the inferno of the destruction that she had caused with an impassive expression. The once-metropolis of Warsaw was now nothing more than a smoldering pile of ruins, completely annihilated by the power of her new Gundam. Stellar had targeted everything within sight, be it scrambling mobile suits, ancient buildings and homes, or the countless fleeing numbers of terrified civilians.

Normally she wouldn't have even considered aiming at civilians because they were defenseless and often had nothing to do with her mission objectives. But Neo had just told her a frightening truth, something that she'd never even considered before. All those people down there were helping the _scary things!_ _Scary things_ that could and would kill her, Neo, and everyone else in the world if she couldn't stop them. And Stellar feared death more than anything else in the world. She would stop those people from helping the _scary things!_ She didn't wanna die! So she'd kill them to stop them from killing her! She would _protect_ Neo…

Like…_Shinn_…said he would _protect_ her.

That was why she watched without remorse as she blew up one street full of people after another. Never again would she fear the _scary things_ that were creeping steadily closer, just waiting to claim her life! _Never again!_

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) I know, I know. It's short, but hopefully very sweet and tasty. A lot of stuff happened in just fewer than five pages, eh? Durandal is once again trying to turn Earth against Akira after receiving information from a spy (check chapter two for a reference to Hidai if you want). Shinn, despite being presently arrested (again), is likely to once again escape any punishments due to the war situation. And now Durandal is sending his loyal operative off with a secret mission. Quite a chapter eh? I apologize for the briefness of the chapter, but I swear that the next one will be MUCH longer. And many thanks to **animefan29** and **FictionReader98** for your help on this chapter.

Oh yes, I have two small announcements to make.

1) I have recently put up a new poll on my homepage. I would be _very_ grateful if each of you readers were to take part in it because I'm very, _very_ curious about your opinions on the matter that it addresses. And yes, this matter is going to become a significant one in the near future.

2) I recently received a request from a talented author named **Maileesaeya**, who has also written several rewrites of **Akatsuki Leader13**'s Gundam Seed: A Retelling, to create an AU version of this story. I don't know when or if **Maileesaeya** will post this story, but I can guarantee that it will be decidedly different from Gundam SEED Destiny: Kira based on what little **Maileesaeya** has shared with me already. I hope you all will at least drop by to see that story when/if it gets posted, I promise to add a notice should that happen.

Next chapter: _Going Down in Flames_


	21. Going Down in Flames

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 21: Going Down in Flames_

**January 18, 74 CE  
****Aprillis 1, PLANTs  
****10:51pm**

The image that lay on the screen was _definitely_ one that inspired fear. An image of a burning city in ruins with its massive destroyer standing ominously amidst the rubble and was silhouetted by flames and smoke with its red eyes glowing brightly. Even though he knew full well what that machine's capabilities were and the ways that it could be defeated and destroyed, this image was still enough to churn even Durandal's gut with a primeval fear. And perhaps it was in fact his knowing about the X1 Destroy that made this instinctive fear all the more terrible than it should've been had he only now just found out about it.

However, that deep rooted fear was almost instantly crushed as his analytical mind began to put things into perceptive and how he could use this situation to his even greater advantage. To a degree, he couldn't help but thank Djibril for finally putting this long-coming scheme into action. This would be one of the major final plays in this game that would ultimately win things over into his favor…if everything played out how it _should've_.

With expert control, Durandal was able to restrain the small upward twitch of lips as he stared at the large Gundam. Though it was unfortunate that he knew that many of the ZAFT forces that had been stationed in the cities that were likely to be attacked would be killed by this machine, they would ultimately play the role that he'd given them in order to further his goal. After all, in chess sometimes you must sacrifice a few pawns to finally strike at the enemy's heart from an unnoticed angle.

What could only make this situation even better for Durandal was if the Neo Freedom were to appear, as he strongly suspected it would. Though he strongly suspected that the Destroy would eventually fall under the Freedom's strength, there was no denying that the legendary Gundam wouldn't be able to escape that battle unscathed. And every bit of damage done to the Freedom would only help his forces towards the goal of eventually destroying or capturing the Gundam.

Instead of that small smile that wanted to break across his face, Durandal put on a surprised and horrified façade, along with a good portion of the Councilors and personnel that were gathered in the room with him. Turning quickly, he began calling out for immediate emergency standby orders of all ZAFT forces that were within the area of the Destroy's path of travel and for them to aid in the immediate evacuation of all civilians.

It was time to play the helpful neighbor during their time of need.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**January 19, 74 CE  
****2 miles west of Berlin  
****4:50am**

After that first attack on Warsaw, a general warning had been sent throughout Western Eurasia. That there was a large machine attacking large cities and residential areas with no warning and no clear objective beyond massive devastation and death. Civilians were fleeing their homes out of absolute fear, especially those who lived within the vicinity of the large machine's flight path as it had shown itself to spare _no one_ who was in sight.

Akira, listening to the civilian radio as he sought to hunt down the Hands, had quickly heard the reports and immediately switched targets. The Earth Forces had finally decided to unleash that monstrosity? It had taken him only a short amount of time to determine a rough estimate of the Destroy's direction of travel. Based on the reports, it was slowly heading towards Berlin. With a city of that great size, it was inevitable that the citizens hadn't been able to properly flee yet. And given the Destroy's coldhearted slaughter of Warsaw, he knew that a repeat performance was inevitable.

_If_ it reached Berlin!

Up ahead of him, he could see that the massive bulk of the machine's mobile armor form. It was flying towards the outskirts of the city at a slow but steady pace. Further ahead and forming a protective barrier directly in front of the Destroy was a thick line of ZAFT mobile suits and land battleships. Hovering around the Destroy like a swarm of gnats were Jet Dagger Ls, Euclid mobile armors, a handful of Rapiers, and even the Chaos Gundam. The fighting hadn't yet broken out, but with the Destroy's approach, it was only a matter of minutes before it did.

Cloaked under the Mirage Colloid, Akira swiftly flew to within a short distance behind the approaching Earth Forces. Just as he was about to raise the Full Burst targeting computer, he felt _another_.

Just like those times previously, when he'd felt Kawayui's fear back in Orb, or that presence back at Lohengrin Gate and Diocuia. This time the presence was neither scared nor focused, it was feeling sad and confused, but resigned to its fate. At least those were the lingering impressions he sensed on the person when he felt the person sudden perk up when it sensed him as well. Despite his hope to the contrary, Akira had a sudden feeling that he knew where this feeling was coming from.

Moving almost instinctively, he activated the Full Burst targeting and immediately opened fire. The unexpected volley of beams that seemed to spring out of nowhere had caught many of the Earth Forces flatfooted, resulting in over ten Daggers, three Euclids, and seven Rapiers disabled or destroyed in the span of three to five seconds; more than half of the Destroy's escort force.

That was the Destroy's few weaknesses, without an escort force to protect it from close-range attacks, it was all but vulnerable. Its great size was both a blessing and curse, for it made the Destroy very slow to react (by modern mobile suit standards) but it also allowed for it to carry so many weapons.

However, one machine, a violet and lime-green Rapier which signified it being either an ace pilot or the commander, had reacted with astonishing speed and agility to dodge the beam that had been shot at it. That clinched it, that person was indeed one of his enemies. _Another_ one like him was out here…that made _everything_ that much harder!

The escort mobile suits' surprise didn't last long. Almost immediately the remaining suits had shifted into a circling pattern around the Destroy, searching all areas in an effort to locate him. Scowling deeply, Akira punched the Freedom's engines and came to a hover high above them. With the Full Burst computer up, he locked and fired as best he could on the moving targets. Unlike last time, most of the remaining eight Dagger Ls and Rapiers had managed to locate and react to the attack, thankfully the last three Euclids had been brought down by his railguns. Those mobile armors would've made his job a hell of a lot more difficult than it already was.

However, this recent attack compromised his location and the sixteen mobile suits began to fire blindly up at him, laying down a barrage that forced him to drop his Mirage Colloid so he could use the PS armor as protection from any lucky shots. With the loss of his invisibility, three Daggers, Rapiers, and the Chaos immediately attacked him with a vengeance. Even the Destroy was turning to face him.

The battle was on!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**5:13am**

The scene that greeted them as they arrived wasn't quite what she was expecting. Oh sure, she wasn't quite sure what to expect, but what she saw certainly wasn't it at all. The large monstrosity was hovering only a few short miles away from the city and its suburbs. The area surrounding it was best described as complete chaos. Multi-colored beams were being shot from everywhere, making the immediate airspace extremely hazardous for even the most skilled of pilots. There were just about three Jet Dagger Ls, five Rapiers, the former ZAFT Gundam, and that large black monster. And they were fighting against the evasive Neo Freedom, who was frantically dancing through the chaos in a desperate attempt to fight back.

Cagalli watched the monitor with wide eyes and her mouth hanging partially open in disbelief. She had vivid memories of Kira fighting in the Freedom at Jachin Due and the Mendel Colony; her twin had always been extremely skilled at piloting. But what she was seeing now put to shame those memories; somehow in the intermitting years, he'd gotten so much _better!_

However, even with that clear increase in skill, he hadn't gone through the battle unscathed. From the images she was seeing as the _Archangel_ came racing towards the battle, it was clear that he was slowly but steadily losing the battle. The Neo Freedom was more heavily damaged than she'd ever seen it being before. It had lost three of its left wings and the plasma cannon on that side, two of its lower right side wings were also destroyed along with the railgun on its hip, and it was missing its left shin and shoulder armor as well. In that condition, it wouldn't be able to fight for much longer!

"I'm going out there!" she said immediately, spinning in the chair she was sitting in to face Murrue. "Kira needs all the support he can get!"

"_Lady Cagalli, allow us to launch as well_," a familiar voice asked as Lieutenant Amagi and several Orb pilots suddenly appeared on the main monitor. "_This battle may not have anything to do with Orb, but we can't sit back and do nothing_."

"Okay, let's go!" Cagalli agreed quickly as she stood up and hurried to the elevator. She wasn't going to let her _little_ brother die out there. She just couldn't sit back and watch, having to go through all that _again!_

As she quickly changed into her favorite pink flight suit, the Strike Rouge and several Murasames were hastily equipped and checked for launch. By the time that she'd arrived in the hangar and boarded the Rouge, it was all ready to go, save for being equipped with its Striker Pack and weaponry. Quickly booting up the CPU, she unlocked its systems and prepared for launch with her stomach twisting itself into tight knots as a familiar fear and primeval excitement for battle rose up inside her.

Once loaded and set on the catapult, she called out over the radio, "Cagalli Yula Athha, Strike Rouge, taking off!"

She braced herself against the immense G-Forces as she rocketed forward off into the skies. Clearing the catapult rails, she activated the Phase Shift Armor as the Aile Striker's wings snapped into place and blasted herself off towards the battle taking place with seven Murasames right behind her.

The eight Orb machines came swooping into the fray with their beam rifles blazing, taking out the Jet Daggers and two Rapiers in their surprise attack and inadvertently causing a brief lull in the battle. As the Murasames broke away to begin attacking in their standard strategies, Cagalli pulled her Strike Rouge up to the momentarily hovering form of the Neo Freedom. Up close, the damage done to her brother's machine looked even more severe than she'd first thought it was.

"_Iyadomi_," one of the Murasame pilots suddenly called over the radio. "_Leave these small fry to us! You go handle that monster down there!_"

Quickly bringing up her own communications, Cagalli opened visual with the Freedom. For just a brief instant, she stared at the image of the panting pilot of the Neo Freedom. His hair was slightly longer, mixed with blonde and brown coloring, and his clothing was visibly coated in sweat. But it was the gaze in those violet eyes that brought a small smile to her face. He was surprised, almost relieved, to be receiving help apparently.

"Need some help there?" she asked in a teasing voice, causing a momentary flinch to run through Kira's body. Then he visibly winced as he reached up to rub his head in a clearly pained gesture. Now that she knew what symptoms to look for, Cagalli found herself believing Lacus' earlier declaration of Kira having amnesia even more so than before.

"_C-Cagalli Yula Athha?_" Kira asked, his voice strictly neutral despite the undertone of being surprised and confused. "_Why are you here?_"

Before she could answer, an alarm suddenly sounded in the Strike Rouge. Both Cagalli and Kira immediately evaded the barrage of cannon fire that had originated from that black monster below them. Dodging the shots as best she could, Cagalli found herself being hard-pressed to do anything other than to use her shield to take the impacts. Whoever was piloting that monster was one hell of a good shot!

A sudden barrage of missiles came racing up at them. She brought up her rifle and even used her CWIS to shower the projectiles, destroying as many of them as she could, but there were too many! Suddenly the Neo Freedom jumped beside her and unleashed a barrage of its own CWIS, destroying the missiles that she'd been unable to hit.

"_Please pull back_," Kira said with real concern in his voice as he launched himself directly towards the black monster. "_You're too important to Orb to be out here. You can't leave that country in the hands of the Seirans, which will happen if you get shot down!_"

"What are you talking about?!" Cagalli asked confused as she engaged an attacking Sword Rapier.

"_Let's just say that the Seirans had plans for the Neo Freedom when they recovered it after the Break the World incident_," Kira said absently as he attempted to pierce the monster's positron shield with his railgun.

Rather than continue the conversation, Cagalli focused on bringing her shield up as she switched the rifle for a beam saber. As she watched the Sword Rapier's beam sword slam into her shield heavily, which knocked her towards the ground below; she let out a yell of anger. She wasn't going to die here! Not when she finally caught up to her brother! For the first time after almost two years of dormancy, something exploded in the back of her mind and filled her with a cool calmness.

Recovering quickly, she dodged the hasty follow-up strike and slashed up at her attacker, cleaving the Sword Rapier's over-extended arms off. As the now armless mobile suit attempted to flee, spraying a shower of Vulcan fire at its enemy, Cagalli let out a battle-cry as she rushed forward and delivered a decisive slash down the center of the Rapier's cockpit. As the dead mobile suit fell from the sky, she turned and launched herself at the violet and lime-green Launcher Rapier that was attempting to shoot her brother in the back.

Rushing forward and grabbing her beam rifle, Cagalli blasted at the Rapier with a vengeance. The Rapier's pilot was no slouch though, as he was quickly able to locate her and turned to face down his newest enemy.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

Elsewhere, the seven Murasame were using their numbers to overwhelm the Chaos and the Rapiers. The Murasame pilots had once fought beside these very same pilots before they'd joined the _Archangel_, so there was sense of familiarity amongst them. But evidently the Rapier pilots had greatly improved since that last battle. They were actually able to block or dodge most of the shots, only attaining relatively light or insignificant damage to their machines. However, it was taking a considerable portion of their concentration to be able to react in time to the numerous attacks. This had the fortunate advantage of distracting them from being able to target the Neo Freedom or protecting the Destroy.

During all this, the _Archangel_ was distracting the Destroy as it attempted to blast the monstrosity by using its Gottfried beam cannons and Valiant rail cannons. However the Destroy's positron shield was very powerful, able to easily block the attacks. Before the _Archangel_ could fire another round of attacks, the large Aufprall Dreizehn beam cannons were fired at the warship. But the _Archangel_ was more than capable of dodging of the dangerous beams, which continued on and struck a small hillside on the horizon and instantly obliterated it.

That was when the Neo Freedom made itself known to the Destroy again. It dropped out of the sky with its last remaining pair of beam sabers in hand, plunging them up to their hilts at the Aufprall Dreizehn beam cannons' bases, melting the metal and energy casing inside instantly. Jumping free, the Neo Freedom left its sabers behind as the heavy beam cannons suddenly exploded violently, blowing a large hole open in the back of the Destroy. The explosion melted the fastenings of the heavy cannons to the backpack and sent them tumbling to the ground below as twisted and blackened slag. However, as the Freedom gained altitude, the Destroy sent a rapid volley of its Nefertem plasma cannons up after it, trying to use its overwhelming firepower to hit the ever evasive Gundam.

As he pulled himself out of the line of fire, Akira had to grit his teeth in anger. With as damaged as the Freedom now was, there was no way he'd be able to successfully take down the Destroy. And although the unexpected arrival of the _Archangel_ and its mobile suits was a true blessing, it didn't change the fact that only he would be able to combat that giant mobile suit. A bitter part of his mind couldn't help but point out: if only he'd had the _Archangel_'s help from the beginning, he wouldn't be having this problem!

The Destroy was angling itself to send another missile barrage up at him. Smirking slightly, Akira put the Freedom into a drastic dive downward. As he was flying forward, he spotted a discarded beam sword from one of the Rapiers and quickly snatched it up, its beam instantly reigniting in his Gundam's grip. Rushing forward with the intent to impale the Destroy's cockpit, Akira brought the beam sword to bear—_Danger!_

Immediately breaking off his attack, Akira spun around to see who'd attacked him. A semi-familiar maroon and orange Gundam with a large beam bazooka in its hand as it came racing forward.

"You?!" Akira yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?! I thought you went back to the _Liberator_, Yoshi!"

"_I have had enough of letting scum like you run around doing as you please, Iyadomi_," the man growled over the radio. "_And it is time for you vanish like the insignificant __**whelp**__ you are! __**Die, Coordinator scum!**_"

He accented his proclamation with opening fire upon the Neo Freedom mercilessly. Thankfully the Destroy held back to watch the battle take place between the Freedom and its unexpected ally. Dodging the relentless assault of the Dominator, Akira growled in anger. He didn't have time for this!

"_GIftzahn attack!_" Yoshi called out as the strange waist armor rose and shot out ten small DRAGOONs.

Dodging, blocking, and evading the numerous attacks from multiple angles took on a whole new meaning of difficult for Akira, even more so when he tried to shoot down the tiny but shockingly maneuverable weapons.

"Why are you doing this?!" Akira demanded as he spun around, firing at the small objects. "Why are you helping the Earth Forces? Do you realize what they're even doing here?!"

"_They are setting an example to what will happen to anyone who dares side with genetic beasts like you!_" Yoshi snapped back as he fired his bazooka into the midst of the chaos he was creating.

Dodging the sudden frenzied attacks of the DRAGOONs, Akira's snarl became etched deeper into his face. Yoshi was a Blue Cosmos supporter, now he understood why he was never at ease when he'd been aboard the _Liberator!_

"So you're saying that you can justify the murder of thousands just because you hate Coordinators?!" Akira demanded, evading the large beam bullet and taking advantage in the split-second lull to destroy three of the DRAGOONs. "How can you say that?!"

"_Because you are abominations of nature_," Yoshi snapped back. "_Creatures that came to birth due to the insatiable hunger of scientists who wanted to play God!_"

"We may have been brought into this world artificially," he said, rolling around and blasting two more DRAGOONs in the process. "But we're still people! We each have hopes, dreams, fears, and flaws! Isn't that what makes us human?!" Another DRAGOON was struck and destroyed.

"_Of course not!_" Yoshi yelled as his four remaining DRAGOONs grouped around him. "_Only those who were granted to right be born naturally have the right to be called 'human!'_"

Lunging forward suddenly as the DRAGOONs suddenly split apart, the Dominator grabbed its large Schwerlast Degen and brought it down powerfully upon the Freedom's raised shield. The power of the blow knocked the Gundam backwards, right into a spray of DRAGOON fire that it wasn't able to dodge. Even as the Freedom began to respond and dodge, the small beam cannons continued to pummel the Gundam relentlessly. The DRAGOONs quickly blew apart its small beam claw shield, destroying its last Balaena and railgun, blowing its entire left leg off, and even blowing a grazing hole through the Freedom's right shoulder.

"_Now it's time for you to __**DIE!!**_" Yoshi yelled as he lunged forward, again swinging his sword towards the Freedom. With its back to him, there was no way it could dodge or block this time!

That was when a sudden massive flare of fire blinded his Gundam's sensors. The sudden flare had so much force behind it that it actually pushed his Dominator away, leaving it only slashing air as the anti-ship sword came down. A split-second later, the flare vanished…as did the Neo Freedom!

"What the?!" Yoshi said, surprise clear in his voice as he stared. Quickly coming back to reality, he began looking for the Neo Freedom. "Where is he?!"

A small trail of flame caught his eye and quickly turned and fired in its direction, missing completely. A streaking trail of flame on his opposite side and moving behind him! Turning again, he fired and sent his DRAGOONs after the flames. But it was too fast!

"How's he doing that?!" Yoshi growled to himself as he was frantically looking around. "And how is moving so damn _fast_ in the _atmosphere?!_"

Snapping the Dominator around in a random turn, he spotted the flaming trail as it rapidly came rushing up to him. With a shout, he brought his sword forward, but his right arm was cut off was the flaming missile passed him! Following the flames, he pointed his bazooka after it and began taking desperate shots in an attempt to strike it. Impossibly, the flame trail did an abrupt 180 turn while still traveling at those insane speeds! It was rushing him! His DRAGOONs quickly gathered around him as he sent a barrage forward, none of the attacks landed as the flaming missile seemed to ghost around and through them. It was almost on him! Dodging to the side, Yoshi attempted to save himself, but it was for naught as his left arm joined his right in being completely cut off. The blow also sent the Dominator reeling uncontrollably.

"_We may not be 'natural' to this world_," Akira's voice said from the radio, clearly strained. "_But we all want to __**live**__, and we will __**always**__ fight to ensure that we __**can**__ live! That is why and how we Coordinators are every bit as humane as you '__**naturals'**__ are!_"

With a sudden slash from behind, the Dominator lost not only its headpiece but also received fatal damage to its engines. As the heavily damaged and disabled Gundam fell from the sky and the battle, the Neo Freedom finally came into view of all those present.

Everyone, even those who had been battling more moments ago, came to a brief halt to stare at what the Freedom had become. It was hovering proudly in the air just in front of the Destroy, while holding a pair of beam swords that it'd evidently acquired from the debris below them. Its Phase Shift Armor had faded, leaving it a dull gray color. But flaring out around the mobile suit was an angry aura of fire and sparkling particles, though most of the fire was concentrated around the Freedom's engines, giving it a strange image of possessing wings of fire. Even as heavily damaged as it was, the sight that they beheld was a truly fierce one.

Despite the image that he was giving his audience, Akira was every bit as surprised as they were. He had no idea what was happening or why, only that when the Dominator had come rushing in to kill him, he'd not only felt that familiar sensation of something exploding inside him, but something had been triggered in his Gundam as well. And now as he hovered in front of everyone after taking down the Dominator, Akira was finally able to notice and read the message that had appeared on a side window of his monitor.

_Akira Iyadomi,_

_If you are reading this, then it means that you've __**most likely**__ been having your ass handed to you by someone—or some __**army**__—that you frankly shouldn't have messed with._

_What you are using right now is a little something I like to call the __**Burning Mirage**__. The theory behind it is simple: the Mirage particles that we've applied to your machine have essentially become 'hyperactive' with a little help from an internal version of Geschmeidig Panzer. This has __**theoretically**__ caused them to create a vacuum within the atmosphere, allowing you to travel and fight in ways that are normally impossible._

_Now get your ass __**out**__**of there**__ before anything happens to you, brat! This is still a __**highly**__ experimental system, so I don't know what the possible repercussions could be for overusing it!_

_~Professor K_

"Think I'm going to have to kiss you the next time I see you, K," Akira muttered as he turned his attention back on the Destroy below and in front of him. "But there's still one last thing I need to do before I leave here."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

Neo was not having a good day, to say the least. That Athha kid, if that who was indeed piloting the Strike Rouge, was proving to be a very difficult foe to shoot down. He could tell that it had been a while since she'd actively piloted a mobile suit because the Strike Rouge's movements were slightly more awkward and slow than they should've been. But at the same time, she was a _good_ shot with her beam rifle and made excellent use of her shield, and always somehow managed to dodge that which she couldn't block. Had their battle continued uninterrupted, he knew that he could've used his Launcher Rapier's superior batteries to outlast the Strike Rouge, even when factoring in how much power he was throwing around with the Agni cannon. But then two things had happened that turned the tide of battle against him.

At this point, only he and Sting were the only ones remaining of the escort force for the Destroy. Sting was constantly finding himself on the defensive against the Murasames' attacks and from being outnumbered seven to one. It was an inevitable fact that it would happen, with only Sting's stubborn refusal to give in that prolonged it for so long. But the Chaos Gundam was finally sent reeling after having its two weapon pods destroyed while mounted upon its back. Their explosions had shaken Sting so badly that he had been unable to reorient himself in time to respond to a Murasame that came swooping down and hacked the green Gundam into halves, destroying both pieces within moments. Only the reinforced cockpit and additional safety features that ZAFT had installed into the machine had saved the Extended's life.

The second thing to happen was the sudden seeming transformation that the Neo Freedom had undergone. Despite his years of combat experience and battle-ingrained cool composure, Neo had found himself momentarily frozen at the controls of his Rapier as he watched the flame missile that the Gundam had become tear apart that maroon and orange unit that had suddenly appeared and attacked it.

That split second freeze had caught Neo at a very bad time because that was when the Orb Murasames came rushing in to aid their Representative. Reacting too late, Neo was unable to do anything but cry out as they sliced his Rapier to pieces. By some form of twisted fate, that final slash had sent his specialized Rapier crashing down towards the _Archangel_. The rapidly approaching form of that large white warship was the last thing that he saw before the main monitors went dead and his dissected cockpit crashed onto the deck of the warship's hull, just under the bridge.

The massive jolts and explosions that tore through his cockpit section would've sent Neo bouncing like a rubber ball on a rollercoaster. With his head spinning almost uncontrollably and fighting against the darkness that was quickly seeping into his vision, Neo pulled the emergency ejection and tumbled out of his Rapier onto the deck of the _Archangel_, his helmet rolling free of his face as he collapsed. Faintly, he could hear the explosions of the battle that was still taking place, but the darkness had finally won out against his fading strength and claimed him in its comforting blackness.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**5:35am**

With a loud battle cry tearing its way out of him, Akira sent himself rushing forward at the Neo Freedom's newfound top speeds. Reacting quickly, the massive mobile armor form of the Destroy launched a spray of missiles at him. However, cloaked within the field of burning Mirage Colloid particles that were surrounding him, none of the missiles were able to get a proper lock onto him and thus he was able to bypass them easily.

Nearly upon the Destroy, Akira suddenly pulled the Freedom upwards. As he did so, he threw one of the beam swords that he'd found forward. Traveling at those speeds and aimed with incredible accuracy, the beam sword buried itself up to its hilt in the focusing gem of the positron shield, causing a small internal explosion that incinerated the mechanisms that powered it and rendered the positron shield inoperable.

Rocketing over the Destroy as it recoiled from the loss of its energy shield, the Neo Freedom abruptly changed course and dropped heavily upon the backside of the large Gundam, thrusting its remaining beam sword deeply through the metal. Had Akira used a beam saber, it would've had no effect on the Destroy's backpack, which was coated with the same anti-beam metal that was used on most standard shields.

Roaring loudly from the amount of effort it took him, Akira dragged the beam sword forward along the edge of the backpack, burning and tearing a deep gouge through the metal that protected the Nefertem that lined it. With a loud metallic screech that could be heard even in the midst of the chaos in Berlin, Akira finally tore through the final cannon on the right side.

Hovering for a split second in front of the Destroy's main cameras and ignoring his rising discomfort from the how hot it was seeming to become, he grabbed the beam sword that was still sheathed in the focusing gem and flared the engines, once again tearing a deep slash through the left side's Nefertem plasma cannons as he raced towards the back of the Destroy.

Blasting back up into the sky as a series of explosions rocked the Destroy from the damage he'd just inflicted upon it, Akira raised the beam swords and hurled both of them at the monstrous machine's backpack once again. This time, the swords impacted the missile launchers, penetrating more than deep enough to pierce a few of the missiles' warheads and triggering multiple more explosions that all but blew the top half of the backpack clear off the Destroy.

Quickly flying over the Destroy as it became obscured in a plume of vile black smoke, Akira dropped into a slight hover a considerable distance away to watch. Would the pilot decide to fight on, using the Destroy's Gundam mode, or finally call it quits? Though it was wishful thinking, he truly did hope that the Destroy would stop before he truly had to destroy it.

That was when he noticed two things happening. One was the Destroy confirming what he'd feared would happen as it began to move and shift, quickly taking on its mobile suit form. The massive machine towered as proudly over the battlefield as it could with all the damage that it'd sustained, its fierce green eyes glaring hatefully at the insect that dared bring it to any harm.

The second thing was a sudden alarm blaring to life in his mobile suit. Quickly checking the gauges and damage assessments, Akira paled in horror at what he was seeing. The Burning Mirage was overheating the Freedom at an increased rate! Without the PS Armor active to help dissipate that heat, combined with how hot the Colloid particles were from being their 'hyperactive' state, it only served to enhance the problem!

If he didn't cool the Freedom down quickly, the reactor would meltdown and give out. That would mean he'd be—_DANGER!!_

Time slowed to a near crawl as Akira took in the entire situation within an instant. The Destroy was powering up its three massive Super Scylla multi-phase beam cannons mounted in its chest, aimed towards his general direction. Behind him was the _Archangel_, already trying to dodge away from the blast area of the Super Scylla. But to Akira, the warship seemed to be traveling through molasses, _way_ too slowly. And behind the _Archangel_ was a 'relatively' small section of the Berlin suburbs!

He didn't stop to consider his actions. Not for an instant.

Akira grabbed the Neo Freedom's shield while quickly dropping to the ground, down to wear he somehow _knew_ there was another shield, one that had been previously used by one of the Rapier mobile suits. As the Destroy's Super Scylla began to glow ominously, ready to unleash their deadly load of energy, he shot back up into the air. As the Destroy finally blasted its cannons, Akira let out a loud battle cry as he rushed the oncoming energy at his top speed with both shields raised and ready.

For one eternal moment, the Neo Freedom had been able to hold the energy at bay. But almost instantly, the continuous stream of energy began to flow forward despite the minor obstacle that lay within its path. To stop that blast was the rough equivalent of trying to use a kitchen bowl to catch a tsunami on the beach.

Utterly impossible.

The beam energy began seeping around and between the shields, tearing and burning away at everything it touched, namely the Neo Freedom. As the Gundam began to slowly disintegrate under this assault, the sheer force of the beam energy began pushing the Freedom backwards at an increasing rate. But still the Neo Freedom pushed on, its critically overheating engines screaming in protest as it attempted to confront its latest foe. Even as portions of its being began to melt away, it pushed on.

Until its reactor died.

With no opposing force pushing against it, the Destroy's beam energy slammed into the shields that were still tightly clenched in the Freedom's hands, seeming to wash it away in its tsunami of power. The beams impacted with a river on the horizon, _just_ missing the suburbs, and created a large explosion that quite literally showered the immediate area with water vapor and mud.

After the explosion had died down, there was a single moment of absolute silence on the battlefield as everyone conscious and living stared at the location where the beams had hit. But aside from the rush of icy water moving forward to fill the new crater, there was no movement. The seemingly invincible, unstoppable, undefeatable Neo Freedom Gundam, piloted by the young man known only as Akira Iyadomi, did not rise from the debris to do battle again.

There was only smoke, steam, and water. Nothing else.

"_**KIRA!!**_" Cagalli screamed, tearing rushing out of her eyes.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**5:40am**

Completely ignorant of what had just occurred, Shinn climbed into the cockpit of the Core Splendor with a deep frown on his face. The reports from their frontline forces that were waiting for the Destroy to enter the city of Berlin or targeting range had been unsettlingly vague. But the one thing that had been confirmed without a moment's doubt was that only had the Neo Freedom decided to once again intervene in the affairs of the world, but so had the accursed ship of that Athha bitch! And had Shinn not received direct orders from Captain Gladys, Shinn wouldn't have hesitated to attack either of those two.

However, as much as he hated to admit it, he had to agree with the Captain's orders. As opposed to either the Freedom or the _Archangel_, that big black monster was the one responsible for destroying three Eurasian cities and killing thousands of innocent people. As much as he'd grown to hate Iyadomi, Shinn would still reluctantly admit that he didn't attack and kill innocents…he had his cronies do that for him!

Pushing those thoughts aside, he quickly powered up the Core Splendor with practiced ease as he was lifted up to the catapult. Lowering his visor, he called out, "Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, launching!"

Within seconds of his launch, the corresponding pieces of the Impulse were sent rocketing after him. Once all the modules were attached, the young super ace sent his Gundam racing forward to meet his titanic foe face on. It was with great reluctance that he ignored the bitch's Strike Rouge and the seven floating forms of her weakling underling Murasames. All of them had been staring off into the distance for some reason, but he didn't care. He had a job to do, and he would be damned if it wasn't him who took down this monster!

Almost too late did the Destroy's pilot notice his approaching form and opened up with a salvo of desperate Super Scylla beam blasts. But thanks to his incredible super-Coordinator reflexes, he was easily able to weave between the beams. As he was practically on top of the Destroy, he grabbed a beam saber and delivered a decisive slash that cut deeply into the cockpit of the machine. It was only after he'd backed away and was preparing for a finishing stab into its heart that he noticed something…familiar about the pilot. Zooming in, he came to a horrible realization. The pilot of that monster was _Stellar!_

But…how could that be?! That masked man—Neo?—had said that he was going to take her away from war! He wasn't going to force her to fight again! So why was she in there?! Neo had given him his word!!

'_Athrun was right_,' a small, bitter part of his conscious whispered to him. But he savagely ignored it in his confusion and horror at the fact that he'd almost killed _Stellar!_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**5:47am**

He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious. No idea how long he'd laid here, sprawled in his pilot's chair, surrounded by total darkness with only the faint sounds of water rushing around him. It could've been for only a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few years. He didn't know and he didn't care. What he did care about was one simple truth.

He'd failed.

With that last reckless act of his, he knew that he'd all but destroyed his beloved machine. The fact that he was still somehow alive despite enduring that tsunami of power must've had something to do with the fact that the shields he'd been using were angled directly in front of the cockpit, thus protecting him from the brunt of the energy. But the fact that he was alive didn't change the fact that his Gundam was now almost nothing more than a heap of twisted slag. How could he stop a war, much less fight, with a machine that was for all intents and purposes destroyed?

He couldn't. He'd failed. There was no longer any way he could fight either. He was a wanted fugitive by both the EA and ZAFT. There was no way they'd allow him anywhere near one of their mobile suit hangars, they'd sooner arrest him for treason or some other trumped up war crime that he'd likely not even committed. And even if he was able to manufacture a new identity, it was inevitable that they'd realize that he wasn't who he said he was.

There was no longer any point in fighting. He'd done the best he could under such difficult circumstances and with limited funds and resources. And it was unlikely that he'd be able to find his way to one of the rebel factions, like perhaps the _Archangel_, to make much more difference in this war.

He didn't need the sheer and overpowering darkness of the cockpit to tell him that the reactor was dead. And without the reactor, there was no power. Without power in his Gundam, he was completely useless.

A weak humming sound filled the silence of the cockpit. Followed shortly afterwards by a flickering light that slowly came to life on his monitor with steadily increasing power and brightness. Raising his head, he stared silently at the glowing screen as more and more lights began to slowly come back to life around him, filling the cockpit with their weak rays.

"…Sure," Akira whispered quietly to his beloved friend and ally. "This will be your final fight."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** - KIRA

**5:52am**

For one eternal moment, everything was right in the universe as far as Shinn was concerned. After he'd finally managed to get through to Stellar and stop her frantic attack that had resulted in massive damage to the landscape just outside of Berlin, Shinn had gotten Stellar to calm down. He could see her now, despite bleeding from various wounds where shrapnel had hit her from his first and only attack, she was wearing a truly beautiful and hopeful smile on her lovely face. Not even the tears that were streaking down her cheeks did anything to hamper the glowing beauty that she had become to him.

But then reality came crashing down on them like a mega-ton brick. A pair of high-powered beams came rushing out of the skies and struck Stellar's Gundam. One of the beams had hit her Destroy's headpiece, completely blowing up its main camera. The other beam had obliterated the focusing gem on the right Sturm Faust arm, which triggered the arm's complete destruction.

Quickly turning around to find the person who'd dare attack his Stellar, Shinn surveyed the entire battlefield but he couldn't find anyone within his sight that seemed to be responsible for the attack. None of the Murasames, or even the Strike Rouge, were equipped with the kind of firepower that he'd glimpsed from the corner of his eye. In fact, they seemed to be searching for Stellar's attacker as well!

That was when they suddenly angled their headpieces upwards, apparently having spotted something. Repeating the gesture, Shinn spotted something floating high in the air, _very_ high, at least a good three kilometers! Zooming his camera on the object, it took him a moment to recognize it due to the severe amount of damage inflicted upon it. But once he did, he scowled hatefully.

Under the normal circumstance, Shinn would've felt positively elated to see the Neo Freedom reduced to little more than a hovering, badly burned and mangled torso. It was missing almost everything that could've been used to identify it as the Neo Freedom: its wings, its legs and railguns, and even its headpiece! The remaining torso was burned and warped, its Phase Shift Armor currently inactive as it was clearly straining to remain hovering at such an altitude. However, that very same torso was also sporting a pair of workable arms who held an Agni hyper-impulse cannon in each of their grasps. Agni cannons that were clearly aimed at the Destroy—at Stellar!

With a roar of outrage, Shinn grabbed his beam rifle and went rocketing up to shoot the Neo Freedom down. As he went, he yelled out, "What do you think you're doing, Iyadomi?! You don't know what's going on here! Don't interfere!!"

He didn't receive a response beyond seeing a series of sparks and electricity dancing along the Freedom's right arm as it prepared to fire its newly-acquired cannons a second time. That was the only warning that Shinn had when the Gundam suddenly unleashed its second volley. Frantically, he jumped in front of one of the beams with his shield upraised. The sheer force of impact knocked the Impulse out of the sky momentarily.

Quickly regaining control of himself, Shinn turned and watched helplessly as the beam that he couldn't block struck the Destroy's left arm as Stellar attempted to bring its positron shield up. However, it was too late as the Agni's blast tore through the focusing gem and resulted in the destruction of that arm as well. With a bestial growl forming in his throat, Shinn pushed the Impulse's thrusters to their maximum as he went racing up to destroy Iyadomi once and for all!

However, it almost seemed that he wouldn't have to. Apparently that electricity that had been flickering off the Freedom's arm hadn't been for show. Just after the right side Agni had fired, the entire cannon had exploded, taking the arm with it and inflicting further damage to the already injured Gundam. There was another explosion that lit up the Freedom's backside as one of its engines suddenly gave out. A large smoke cloud was billowing from that destroyed engine as the Gundam began to fall from the skies.

But even as it fell, the Freedom pointed its remaining arm and cannon down towards Stellar!

"_I won't let you __**kill STELLAR!**_" Shinn yelled as images of his family's deaths played in his mind. Though he hadn't seen who actually done it, as far as he was concerned, the Freedom was the one responsible for their deaths. And he would have his revenge, on top of saving the girl who meant so much to him!

A sudden alarm distracted Shinn. Glancing in the direction of his attacker, Shinn couldn't help but freeze as he located who it was. The Destroy's Super Scylla beam cannons were glowing ominously as Stellar maneuvered them skywards towards the Freedom—and him!

"Stellar, wait!" he yelled, despite knowing it was too late. That was when the Iyadomi fired his shot.

The Agni beam flew long and true, burrowing deep into the center Super Scylla cannon and causing untold amount of damage. To make such a shot—without its headpiece—was nearly the equivalent of hitting a pinprick with a pencil from a hundred meters away while blindfolded: practically impossible! And yet, before Shinn's wide-eyed gaze, he watched helplessly as the chain reaction began. First the center cannon was engulfed in a bright golden light, then it spread to the two other cannons. Then the accumulated beam energy that had been gathered tried to find the shortest route of escape. But because of damage gained, the easiest route had been shattered, resulting in a massive explosion that blew the Destroy's torso completely in two. Though he couldn't see it, Shinn was almost positive that Stellar was being showered by shrapnel and fire as her monstrous machine continued to explode around her.

However, the Destroy wasn't the only one. Up in the sky, just seconds after firing that final shot, the remaining Agni cannon exploded in the Neo Freedom's hands. The shrapnel of the heavy cannon pummeled the vulnerable Gundam mercilessly, easily penetrating the armor in certain locations. One of those locations was the last remaining engine, which finally gave up the ghost and joined its brother in exploding.

_He was floating just behind his pink-haired angel as she led him through an unfamiliar series of hallways. She was dressed a modest but pretty white and purple dress while he wore a ZAFT Red Coat. He wasn't entirely sure where she was taking him, but he trusted her unconditionally. And as they passed through a pair of locked doors and into a darkened chamber, he realized that his questions were about to be answered._

_Though he'd never really seen a proper one before, he had quickly realized that they were now floating through a mobile suit hangar. To his left there stood a large, shadowy form of a mobile suit and his angel grabbed the railing next to them to stop her momentum, a move that he quickly copied. They now stood just in front of the giant machine. So this was what she'd wanted to show him?_

_That was when the lights of the hangar suddenly sprung to life, throwing back the shadows to reveal the proud and powerful form of a very familiar face to him._

"_A—A Gundam?" he stuttered out in his surprise._

_His angel giggled quietly for a moment before she said, "Actually, that's not what it's called. This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom." Turning to face him, she smiled brightly at his still partially stupefied expression. "But I think I like 'Gundam' more because it sounds more powerful."_

_As they returned their attention to the mighty Gundam that stood before them, the young lady continued her little speech. "Under orders of Chairman Zala, they designed a new machine with the same capabilities as the Earth Forces' mobile suits they captured and then added state-of-the-art technology to it."_

_Still partly confused, he turned and asked, "But why? Are you—?"_

"_I believe this machine has the power that you're going to need," she interrupted softly. "Because neither __will nor strength alone, while be enough. That's why."_

_But…this machine was…how could she manage to…? Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Who are you? Really?"_

"_I am simply Lacus Clyne," his angel said with a pleasant smile, finally and fully identifying herself to him._

_His angel had given him his greatest weapon._

With the loss of its engine, the flaming wreckage of the once proud Gundam plummeted out of the skies, crashing into the earth below and coming to a halt for the last time.

The Neo Freedom was no more.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) I'm evil, aren't I? ^_^ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it! And I thank all **68** of you who voted on my most recent poll. I'm sure you can all see why I chose to post it now eh? Though I have to admit that the sheer amount of you to have voted surprised me, even more so when I realized that _most_ of you had in mind what I had planned to happen all along. Am I becoming predictable again? Well, I guess it's time to really pull out all the stops!

But I can honestly say that I'm _very much_ looking forward to reading your opinions on the battle and the Neo Freedom's destruction. **All 68 of you.** ^_^

For those you who are wondering (all of you I'm sure), I got inspired for the 'Burning Mirage' after watching Gundam 00. And I must bow down to my friends (**animefan29** and **FictionReader98**) for helping me to refine this idea and doing some major beta-review on this chapter.

As you can probably guess, the Burning Mirage is based heavily on the Trans-Am system, but with _much_ more severe side-effects. Here's a full list of capabilities and limitations.

The Burning Mirage works on pretty much the same level of using the Mirage Colloid particles as the Geschmeidig Panzer on the GAT-X707E Forbidden Vortex. But unlike the Forbidden Vortex, the Burning Mirage affects the atmosphere rather than water, essentially creating a 'bubble' of vacuum in the air, which allows the Neo Freedom to travel and fight at levels of speed and maneuverability that it normally can't because of the wind resistence.

But in order for the Colloid particles to be able to perform such an act, they need to be at extremely high temperatures, which give them a sparkling appearance. Combined those high temperatures with the Neo Freedom's engines and you've got what seems to be a cloud of fire that's covering the Gundam.

But that isn't the only advantage gained. Due to Professor K's genius, she created an internal version of the Geschmeidig Panzer to be used in conjunction with the Burning Mirage. This system essentially helps to boost the flow of power from the Neo Freedom's nuclear reactor, granting it short bursts of energy that are of far greater quantities than would normally be available.

However, like I've shown in the chapter, if the particle temperatures climb too high too fast, they can basically cook the pilot alive if they aren't able to cool down the machine quickly enough (which is how Akira was able to return so quickly after being blasted by the Destroy, he'd fallen into that ice-cold river). These high temperatures also have numerous affects on the mobile suit itself, such as weakening the armor, making the metals more malleable than they should be.

Well, I believe that's about everything. See you next chapter!


	22. A Victory for Durandal

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 22: A Victory for Durandal_

**January 18, 74 CE  
**_**Liberator**_**, Germany  
****5:55am**

She watched the aftermath of the battle with a completely neutral expression. With the _Liberator_ safely hidden behind several hills a few miles away, Luna Ito and her bridge crew silently continued their observation that was being fed to them via Carter in his Devastator who was hidden on the horizon.

Yoshi had failed in his mission to destroy the Neo Freedom, which was somewhat surprising considering the condition that the Gundam was in when he'd engaged it. By all accounts, he should've succeeded. However no one, not even Captain Luna Ito who could almost perfectly forecast the outcome of almost every battle, could've expected Iyadomi to pull that trick out. She had no idea what it was or how it worked, but what was clear was that it had allowed him to completely overwhelm his Gundam's 'offspring' with extreme ease.

But despite Yoshi's failure, Luna couldn't help but be grateful that he had indeed failed. Though her true loyalties lay with Logos and the Earth Alliance, even she had to put her foot down when it came to killing innocents like what Logos had ordered here. To that degree, Luna had to metaphorically take her hat off to Akira Iyadomi for saving Berlin. Truthfully, she had actually ordered Yoshi to go and take out the Destroy Gundam so that it wouldn't annihilate Berlin, but the cold man had clearly ignored those orders in favor of attacking Iyadomi.

And now as she watched the _Archangel_ hastily retreat from the battlefield, she knew that it would be a wise decision to follow. ZAFT knew quite well that the Hands' operated in some kind of moving fortress, so it wouldn't be out of the question to assume that they'd quickly start searching the area in an attempt to locate the _Liberator_. And with the Neo Freedom's destruction, the _Liberator_'s true purpose was all but over now.

"Contact Carter," she said quietly. "Order him to withdraw and return immediately. Helm, get us out of here, we're departing the vicinity. Head for Yellow Base."

"Yes, madam!" came various acknowledgements from the bridge.

Turning her gaze one last time to the screen before the image faded, she couldn't help but offer a silent prayer for Iyadomi's soul. The chances of him surviving the explosions that tore through the Neo Freedom after that final shot were minimal at best, and that didn't even take into account the impact with the earth shortly afterwards. Normally, such a fall wouldn't have done any true lasting damage to a Gundam of the Freedom's caliber. But with the condition it had been in…the chances of his survival were extremely low.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**6:00am**

He held her limp form in his arms, somehow managing to hold back the tears through sheer force of will until now. After carrying her back to his Gundam, he'd flown off with the Impulse several miles away. With his machine now waist deep in the icy water of a nearby lake, he cradled her body to his with a delicacy of holding a frail China doll.

Why did it have to come to this? _Why her? WHY HER?!?!_ Memories rose to his mind unbidden as he gently and carefully angled the Impulse's arm. Memories of unknowingly meeting her in combat back in the Indian Ocean, watching her battle the Neo Freedom back on Junius 7, of her dancing on the cliff with her blue and white dress twirling around her, and of watching over her while she slowly died of withdrawal in the _Minerva_'s infirmary. Why did it have to be _her_ who died? Why? _WHY?!!_

He knew that she was as much of an innocent in this pointless war as the civilians she'd killed in the past few days. She had been raised, trained, and _forced_ to fight and kill. It was all she knew how to do. And despite being a fiercesome opponent on the battlefield, he had also seen her in her moments of weakness. She had been very much a young child at heart; a sweet little girl who despite her lack of real social skills was very kind and gentle.

She had lived her life in near-constant fear, mostly because of being put into situations where her only choice was to kill or be killed. It was her overwhelming and unconditional fear that pushed her beyond the normal limits of human beings. That made her into the emotional wreck that killed and destroyed all that scared her; like what he'd seen her attempt to do in the Destroy after he'd attacked her, using the Super Scylla to incinerate the nearby landscape of the battlefield as she tried to blow away anything even remotely dangerous to her.

Yes, she was every bit as innocent and naïve as a five-year-old child. So why did it have to be _her_ who had died?! Why couldn't anyone _else_ understand that she didn't _want_ to fight?! That she _wasn't_ the _true enemy?!_ _**WHY?!**_

Lifting her up and carrying her slowly and gently as he climbed out of the Impulse's cockpit and walked down the length of its arm, he quietly whispered to her unresponsive form, "It's alright now, Stellar… There's nothing more to fear."

Crouching down on the Impulse's fingers, his body was shaking from the force of the effort it was taking him to keep from completely breaking down. No, not yet. There was still something he needed to do before he finally gave in. "You don't have to suffer anymore. So…"

"N-Nothing…will _e-ever_ scare you…_again_," he whispered, gently placing her limp form out onto the surface of the icy lake under them. "_No one_…will _ever_ come to…hurt you _again_."

"Therefore…don't worry…" he watched miserably through the tears that cascaded down his cheeks, some of them landing her face as she was slowly enveloped by the water's embrace. With his voice cracking and breaking up slightly, he continued to reassure her as she slowly began to sink below the surface.

"S-So p-please…rest here…in peace," he whispered to her as she steadily sank out of his sight into the dark waters below. "Good-bye."Finally unable to hold it back any longer, he yelled out all his agony and pain to the girl in the lake, "STELLAR, _I'M SORRY!! __**I'M SO SORRY!!!**_"

He didn't know how long he had remained in that position, crouched down on the fingers of his machine as he wept out the loss and pain that he felt. However long it was, his numerous tears had long since formed into a small puddle and frozen in the icy temperatures that surrounded him. A thick layer of snow had settled down upon his shoulders and back, coating him and the Impulse in its cold embrace.

Eventually he'd finally found the strength of will to raise his body, sending the snow falling off him, and lifted his face. His red eyes were bloodshot from his tears and were glaring hatefully in the direction of Berlin in front of him.

He hadn't seen what had become of the Neo Freedom since he'd been solely focused on the Destroy and Stellar, but now he was _focused_ like never before.

That morning, a part of Shinn Asuka died forever.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 21, 74 CE  
Linz, Austria  
2:34pm**

Meer ran as fast as her legs could carry her down the side of the main highway. All she had on her person was a simple handbag that had some money she'd earned from the café and some make-up she'd bought last week. The bag was flailing in the wind as she ran, the cold winter wind blowing full on into her face and sending a chill down her spine despite wearing her heavy winter clothes.

It had only been three days since the battle near Berlin took place. In that time, countless rumors had sprung up surrounding it and had happened. And although many of the rumors varied on many subjects, there was one common piece that rung true each and every one of them: the Neo Freedom had finally been destroyed and Akira Iyadomi reportedly killed!

Meer had seen her chance and had taken it with only slight amount of hesitation. As much as she had reluctantly grown to like working at the café, as much as she had become friends with Oria and Xavier, as much as she had slowly begun to feel at home in the small café, she ran.

She was Lacus Clyne! Her place was in the PLANTs, supporting the Chairman as he brought an end to this war, not partaking in idly gossip with the local residents of the city as they dined in the café. Her place was singing in concerts and keeping the morale of the people, Natural and Coordinator alike, as high as possible while in this war, not discussing the actions taken by the warring factions with Xavier and Oria. She was supposed to be surrounded by attendants and bodyguards, not taking orders and delivering meals!

It hadn't taken very long for Meer to realize what they had been trying to make her do. Oria and Xavier, despite having no real political training or even any real interest in the war that was taking, was trying to teach her to step back look at things from a different point of view. And while she normally wouldn't have minded, the fact that they were constantly having her exercise this in direct relation to the Chairman's actions was really starting to make her feel antagonized. The Chairman had done nothing wrong! Most of his actions to this point, especially the ones taken on the more controversial deeds done by the Earth Forces and Akira, were more than perfectly acceptable and reasonable! Why didn't the Falacci and Iyadomi realize this?!

When she'd first heard the rumors that the Neo Freedom had been destroyed, Meer had utterly ignored them. She had seen several of the battles that Iyadomi had taken part in; he was practically invincible on the battlefield! No one, save perhaps her dear Athrun and the original pilot of the Freedom, could possibly hope to defeat Iyadomi. However the rumors had persisted, causing Meer's hopes to rise. But the clincher was when she'd seen an abbreviated version of the Battle of Berlin, the Neo Freedom being blasted by a monstrously large plasma beam. Even Meer, with her nearly nonexistent amount of knowledge pertaining to mobile suits and military technology, had realized that not even Iyadomi could survive such a blast as that!

And now here she was, running north, towards where she'd heard ZAFT forces were located. There had been a rumor of ZAFT starting to head this direction to link up with reinforcements as they attempted to provide disaster relief aid for the cities and towns that had been attacked. All she had to do was find one, reveal her true self to them, and she'd be well on her way back to where she _truly_ belonged!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Near Magdeburg, Germany  
****4:42pm**

Carter let out a loud battle cry as he rotated his DRAGOON turrets on the Devastator's backpack forward and fired all his beam cannons at the agile little wasp that was buzzing around him. "Why can't you just _die_ _already?! FALL!!_"

Things weren't looking good, not by a long shot! Somehow, ZAFT had caught wind of the _Liberator_ making its way through Germany's countryside and had immediately sent forces to intercept it. Of course, the fastest and most deadly of those interceptor forces just happened to be the _Minerva_, who was also the closest due to their proximity to Berlin. Desperate to escape the assault, Captain Ito had quickly sent out Carter and three volunteer pilots to fly their black Rapiers.

It was Carter's job to keep the _Minerva_'s only operational Gundam as far away from the _Liberator_ as possible. And though that was an incredibly easy job to do, staying alive long enough to shoot down the irritatingly persistent pilot was another matter altogether! Carter just couldn't understand it, he was in the better and more powerful machine and yet that puny wasp of a Gundam had already far more damage to him than vice-versa!

As he relentlessly fired barrage after barrage of beam fire after the evasive bug, a small chiming alarm brought his attention to a side-screen on his monitor. The _Minerva_ had just destroyed their three Rapiers and had critically damaged the _Liberator_'s engines! Already?!

"_I'm going to __**kill**__ you!_" a bestial voice growled over the radio. "_I'm won't let you spread anymore chaos __**over this world! Now DIE!!**_"

As the berserk Blast Impulse pilot was saying this, the Gundam grabbed a Defiant beam lance from one of its Kerberos cannons. Weaving between the Devastator's blasts, the Blast Impulse pilot accented his final cry by hurling the Defiant lance straight towards the Devastator's cockpit at super-imposed speeds that even the best of pilots couldn't hope to dodge. The last thing that Carter saw before oblivion claimed him was a blinding flash of pink beam energy as it cut through his cockpit armor and speared him through the gut. The Devastator fell from the skies, dead.

Racing forward, Shinn retrieved him weapon before turning his glazed-over eyes towards the enemy's mothership. That was the ship that Iyadomi's cronies were using as a headquarters. Well not anymore! He'd make sure that they never again were in a position capable of doing that man's bidding. And he would personally make sure that they received as much mercy as they'd shown their victims – none – right_ here_, right_ now!!_

With that cold resolve now fueling his enraged soul, Shinn launched himself into the skies and went racing towards the land battleship. Once he was in a suitable position, he rained his Kerberos plasma cannons and Deluge railguns down upon the ship without mercy. And he didn't stop until every single piece of the warship had been completely and irreparably destroyed. Even when _Minerva_ ceased its own attacking barrage, Shinn continued ruthlessly. He would not allow a _single_ member of Iyadomi's terrorists to escape with their lives!

All the while he was doing, Shinn had only one thought on his mind. _That was for you, Stellar. Just a little payback until I find him again…_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 22, 74 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**, Germany  
9:21am**

Unlike a fair portion of the _Minerva_ crew, Commander Heine Westenfluss had woken up respectably early. This was mostly due to the fact that he was one of the select few who had both the privilege and the shift rotation capability to have been able to attend the impromptu celebratory party that the crew had thrown for Shinn the previous night after his victory over the remaining Hands of Freedom Gundam and finally bringing the end of Operation Hunter by destroying the terrorists' mobile base.

Needless to say, Shinn's already high status among the crew had climbed several notches higher after this most recent victory.

Despite his respect for Shinn's truthfully very impressive combat abilities and his unwavering focus and faith in his own beliefs, Heine couldn't help but start to actually feel concerned for the boy. He understood that Shinn came from a tragic past that had left profound scars on his soul. Because of these scars, Shinn often had trouble making new friends due to his newly-ingrained instinct of lashing out at things that were unfamiliar to him or he didn't like for whatever reason. Heine respected the boy's privacy in regards to his past and never attempted to push too hard about certain issues if he felt that they didn't pertain to their mission objectives or affected their working relationship.

However, after that battle in Berlin, Heine had noticed a subtle change in the boy's behavior. Well, maybe the word behavior wasn't the proper term to use. It was actually more visible in the way that he carried himself or that strange new gaze that he wore than what he actually said or did. Heine felt as though Shinn were constantly judging him and the people around him, trying to locate _something_ within them. And though he apparently hadn't found what that something was, the FAITH agent had a strong suspicion that it was a disaster in the making. That Shinn had become some kind of time bomb, set to blow when certain conditions were just right.

Sighing unhappily at the morbid turn that his thoughts had taken, Heine gazed out over the landscape from the external observatory deck that he stood upon. Though the _Minerva_ was currently resting in a large, snow covered field somewhere in the German countryside, there was a prominent wind that was pulling at his body. The cold winds playfully tussled his hair and uniform as it also attempted to freeze him to his bone. Being a Coordinator more than allowed him to ignore the discomfortingly freezing temperatures for the moment as he contentedly allowed himself to relax and breathe in the fresh, cold air of mid-morning.

The sun had risen long hours ago and normally the _Minerva_ would've been up and running as soon as the sun peaked out from over the horizon. However, that would've only happened if they had any fresh new orders. With the sudden destruction of the Hands and the Neo Freedom, the _Minerva_ crew was enjoying a rare few hours of peace and relaxation from all the fighting and battles that they'd been involved in over the past four months. And so, with no immediate orders to return to Gibraltar or to link up with any nearby forces, the _Minerva_ was sitting peacefully upon this field as it waited for the ZAFT command to remember its presence.

"You're going to freeze yourself solid if you stay out much longer, Heine," a familiar voice called from behind him in a slightly teasing manner. As he was turning to face his fellow pilot, Lunamaria Hawke leaned slightly forward from her slouched position on the doorframe as she continued, "I don't care if you are a FAITH member, sir, I'll have no choice but to report you to Captain Gladys for disciplinary action. So I strongly recommend you come in, out of the cold before that happens."

Chuckling quietly at the girl's show of bravo, Heine nodded and walked back towards the _Minerva_'s interior. The inside of the warship felt like a furnace to Heine after he'd entered it, especially after the door had slammed shut and cut off the winter breeze that was blowing through. For just a moment, caught between the two extremes of temperature, Heine was almost tempted to journey back outside to escape the engulfing inferno. But that impulse quickly passed as he grew more accustomed the heating.

"What can I do for you on this fine morning, Lieutenant Hawke?" he asked as he noticed her slightly indecisive stare.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you about Shinn," she finally said.

"Is something the matter with him?" Heine asked, cocking his head slightly to the side as he watched the girl shift slightly. Why was she so uncomfortable around him?

"He doesn't think he's done anything wrong," Lunamaria answered after a moment's hesitation. "I understand why he feels that way. He wasn't punished the last few times he did something wrong and now he thinks he's pretty special. Add in the fact that he practically just destroyed the Hands of Freedom all by himself, he seems to want everyone to treat him like he's some kind of royalty now…even if they don't want to."

"What are you getting at?" Heine asked evenly, although he had a sneaking suspicion he now knew.

"What I'm trying to say is that you, Athrun, and Captain Gladys are all FAITH members abroad this ship," Lunamaria stated, for once finding her voice and iron will. "And despite the authority and trust bestowed upon you all by the Chairman himself, along with his trust in you to use that power as you see fit, you let Shinn run around acting like he's the king of the _Minerva_ just because he's a super ace. And, as much as I hate to say this, unlike Athrun, you don't normally shy away from that power you've been given."

"You want me to have a talk with him," Heine surmised. "I guess I can understand your frustrations towards him in these past few weeks. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I had planned on talking to him about this in just a few minutes anyway."

Looking decidedly relieved and slightly embarrassed, Lunamaria couldn't help but glance away as she quietly apologized for her assumptions. As she walked away from her orange-haired commander, Lunamaria couldn't help but wish that the strange feeling of foreboding would leave the pits of her stomach.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 23, 74 CE  
****8:42am**

'_**My name is simply Lacus Clyne**__,' her voice said, echoing through his mind._

_He didn't know much of anything that was happening around him. To him, his was floating in a sea of darkness that was as comforting as it was terrifying. He found that he could form no real coherent thoughts while shrouded in this darkness. There was only a vague sense of impulses, to do something, to feel something. He had as much control over these strange impulses that washed over him as he did breathing: if he really concentrated on them, they would obey his wishes but more often than not, they pulled in whatever direction they wanted to go._

'_**My name is simply Lacus Clyne**__,' her voice said again, but the words didn't really click within his consciousness. They were just musical syllables and sounds to him, spoken by a beautiful voice from somewhere close by. Who was she? Why couldn't he seem to remember?_

_An impulse washed a strange sensation over him, a strange emotion that tugged at his heart and being. What was it? It was comforting but painful at the same time. It filled him with need, and yet it took that need away. What was this strange emotion?_

_Without him truly realizing it, the darkness around him began to turn gray. The fog that was coating his mind began to slowly clear as he slowly grew more aware of himself. Somehow opening his eyes, or at least his awareness to what was around him, he found himself standing in a slightly darkened mobile suit hangar in front of a machine that was familiar to him. But his attention was immediately drawn to the angel next to him, her soft and gentle features giving off an aura of slight amusement and wistful happiness._

'_**My name is simply Lacus Clyne**__,' her voice again echoed through his mind even though her lips did not waver from that soft smile on her face. Once again, her words fell on deaf ears as he stared at her enchanting beauty. He found he could not break his gaze away from that smile on those lips that sorely tempted him to lean into, to kiss and taste. He could feel…something rising up inside him as he stared at her face. It made his chest ache, and yet it soothed that ache. He could feel his heart beat slightly increasing the longer he stared into her shining blue eyes. He had an almost irresistible need to reach out and touch her. But how could he?_

_So focused on her, he almost failed to notice their mobile suit hangar surroundings had melted away. Against his will, he watched as they now stood within a ruined city, mobile suit wreckage scattered everywhere, as well as the corpses of many, many people. Death and destruction that __**he'd**__ caused. And despite his best efforts, he couldn't prevent himself from turning away and gazing at the sad scene around them. The scene made him feel indescribably ashamed of himself. A shame that escalated all the more when he'd realized that he was desiring to do something that he wasn't worthy of doing._

_This young woman beside him, this beauty, she was…she was… She was an angel, his angel, and was as close to pure and perfect as perfection could come in this world. And he was nothing but a destroyer, a terrorist, and a killer. How could he possibly be privileged enough to be able to do anything other than to simply worship his angel from a distance? __She deserved __**better**__ than him._

_Of that, he now had no doubt._

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Archangel**_**, Germany  
****9:13am**

"It was completely unbelievable," Cagalli said quietly with a contemplative frown on her face as she sat by Kira's bedside, staring down at her twin's unconscious form. "I could actually feel the heat from inside my Strike Rouge when I was carrying the cockpit back here. How he managed to survive is beyond me, Ultimate Coordinator or not."

The man claiming to be named Neo Roanoke snorted quietly from his position on the bed on the opposite side of the room. "Then you're clearly not giving the boy his due credit, princess. After all, this is Akira Iyadomi we're talking about here. Wasn't his _first_ act of stupidity having something to do with falling through the atmosphere at speeds that would've killed any of us other mere mortals?"

"That's not the point, Commander!" Cagalli loudly snapped, sending an annoyed glare at Neo.

"_Captain_," the man shot back, just as annoyed but considerably more restrained.

"Calm down, Miss Cagalli," Murdock said quietly, his deep, slightly rough voice having a surprisingly soothing effect on the young leader. "At least we'd managed to get him out of the thing and into sickbay before ZAFT was able to retaliate against us. And I doubt any of our current pilots would've been able to fight off the Impulse if it'd suddenly decided to go hunting for us."

"Then you'd better hope that the kid over there gets better soon," Captain Roanoke said seriously as he glanced over the boy in the bed next to him. "Because when the Impulse does come after you, he'll be coming for blood."

"You speak as though you've met him before," Cagalli observed quietly, mirroring Murdock's thoughts.

"Yup, once," Neo confirmed in a neutral voice. "I've even fought against him, and he just keeps improving in leaps and bounds… I'd hazard a guess that if he continues as such, in about a month or two and with a machine of equal strength, he'd easily give Iyadomi here a run for his money."

Cagalli let out a low growl as she turned her gaze back upon Kira's still-slumbering form. As much as she hated to admit it, that boy – Shinn, wasn't it? – had indeed _greatly_ improved from the last time she'd seen him pilot. And though she had every confidence that her brother could beat anyone who attacked him, the idea of Shinn getting a new machine to accent his abilities made her feel uneasy. Would Kira be able to beat someone who was practically his equal in all the ways that mattered?

After a moment of silence, Cagalli reached over and felt the temperature of the rag that was on Kira's forehead. She frowned as she realized that it had already lost much of coolness to the high fever that was washing through Kira's body. Though she wasn't really surprised by this because the temperatures he'd be exposed to would've killed practically any other that had been in his position. With a small sigh, she quickly plucked the rag away and dipped it into a nearby bucket of ice-cold water before replacing it. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the sudden return of the cold rag seemed to almost bring a smile of appreciation to Kira's face.

"Who is he to you?" the blond Captain suddenly asked, drawing Cagalli's attention immediately.

"What do you mean?" she asked before catching where the man was staring. "You mean Kira?"

"As far as I know," Neo began slowly, as though testing the waters. "That boy quite literally just appeared out nowhere when the _Minerva_ was giving chase to the _Girty Lue _after the Armory 1 incident. Then he appears and attempts to aid in preventing Junius 7 from falling, disappearing shortly afterwards, only to have the Neo Freedom be reportedly sighted blasting its way out of an Orb Morgenroete facility before it started interfering in multiple countries and battles. Until the Hands of Freedom terrorists appeared, he was something of an anonymous hero. Now many people see him as nothing more than a pirate or terrorist doing what he can to continue this war."

Turning his gaze back to Cagalli, the man's gaze conveyed a level of deadly seriousness that no amount of words could properly translate. "_Who_ is _he_ to _you?_"

Cagalli was silent for a moment as she contemplated her answer. Finally she quietly said, "He was a very, _very_ dear f-friend who'd lost his way some time ago."

It was a vague answer to be sure. It answered some questions, but it also brought up even more than it answered. But there was one thing that Cagalli wanted to be sure of. Whether this man was Mu la Flaga or not, he was still a member of the Earth Forces. He was still a Captain a part of a combined military who had no doubt been looking for ways to get to Kira and end his interferences in their plans. And Cagalli wanted to protect Kira until she knew whether or not 'Neo Roanoke' could be trusted.

"Mr. Murdock?" Cagalli suddenly said, wanting to break away from the slightly uncomfortable subject. "Have you been able to figure out just what happened to the Neo Freedom before the Destroy blasted it?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Murdock's answer surprised both of his listeners. "The kid wasn't able to lock the CPU down, so all the technical information was quite easy to get a hold of. Someone called 'Professor K' apparently designed the system. This professor guy calls it the Burning Mirage apparently. It creates a vacuum in the atmosphere for unhindered combat. However, I can already say that there are just too many drawbacks and weaknesses caused by it for it to be of much value beyond professional curiosity. The Mirage damaged the Freedom much more thoroughly than anything it took from the Destroy. I'm actually rather surprised that he was willing to continue fighting when the system activated. The kid's really gotten reckless over the past few years."

"Sounds like a last resort, get-your-ass-out-of-there system," the Captain muttered quietly, likely more to himself than the others. "That would explain why he never used it before then."

"I just wish that the Freedom's CPU wasn't the only thing that was salvageable from that wreckage," Murdock mumbled grumpily. "The kid really did a real number on it, that's for sure."

Anything else that they would've spoken of was then interrupted when a voice over the intercom called Cagalli to the bridge, with Murdock quickly following her out of curiosity.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

"—goal to be the liberation of the region from the tyranny of ZAFT," Gilbert Durandal was saying as he addressed the entire world on channels and radio frequencies. "But does this look like liberation: the burning of entire cities, along with their citizens?"

She watched silently as Durandal continued his speech, as scenes of destruction caused by the Destroy and the aftermath that the survivors had to go through. It was quickly made clear as to what Durandal was up to when Cagalli watched a pair of particular scenes that caught her attention immediately. One was of several survivors proclaiming that the Alliance was the true enemy of mankind and screaming out their support of ZAFT. But the other scene…

"—although even the Neo Freedom made a valiant attempt to stop the monster before it could enter the city of Berlin, even if fell to the power of the Alliance's new superweapon." On the screen was an image of the Neo Freedom being blasted into the horizon by the Destroy's Super Scylla, which was quickly replaced by an image of the Impulse dashing and slashing the Destroy's cockpit, followed by the wide-shot view of the Destroy exploding in a large ball of fire, debris, and smoke before collapsing.

So that was Durandal's game? Showing the world that the Neo Freedom—_her brother_—was inept enough to be beaten by a giant powerhouse while pinning the victory entirely on the Impulse? That thought drew a deep scowl on Cagalli's face as she glared at the television and the slander that Durandal was feeding the world.

But then Durandal added the cherry on top by revealing the identities of at least twenty people who he claimed to be the ones responsible for the war and Blue Cosmos, followed by his announcement of a campaign to bring them to justice.

Cagalli quickly guessed what Durandal was _really_ planning just after seeing those images. By publicly announcing that those people were influencing the leaders of the world and continuously causing new wars, he was practically _begging_ the populace to slaughter them out of some belief that killing them would finally end all wars. And although Cagalli certainly didn't have anything against the idea, she quickly realized that those people were more than what Durandal was making them out to be. In fact, several of those people were prominent business owners and among the primary financers of the Orb nation's industry, as well as many other nations all over the world.

But what got Cagalli really worried as a stray thought that made her pause in contemplation. How did anyone really even know if some of those people weren't actually innocent of the crimes that Durandal was accusing them of?!

Regardless, she came to an immediate conclusion. This was going to be big trouble, for the world and for Orb. And she had strong doubts that the Seirans would be able to properly handle the situation without it degenerating to chaos and violence. Truth be told, she didn't even know what they would do in a situation like this. She needed to get back to Orb!

_Immediately!_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Unknown to the _Archangel_ and its crew, a ZAFT AWACS DINN that was in the vicinity detected it as it took flight mere moments after the broadcast.

Operation Angel Down had begun!

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Man, oh man. I can't believe I actually did this. To be perfectly honest with all of you, this chapter was supposed to be Chapter 23. But I am having some complications with that chapter and this one was just too easy to change replace it with. That's not to say that the _real_ Chapter 22 isn't coming, it most certainly is, I'm just trying to buy more time for it.

Anyway, there's something that I must admit to. I am very, very, _very_ surprised at the sheer amount of reviews I received after that previous chapter. I know that I said I was expecting 68 reviews after that poll I had, but I still hadn't truly believed that I'd get any more than 25 at most. The fact that 43+ people actually responded was a welcomed surprise.

Regardless of that, how do you all like this one? I'm sure that a great many of you are yelling out 'FINALLY!!' that Kira has returned to the _Archangel_ eh? Yeah, it's true, that's where he is now and right when they need him the most. But how will he fight without the Neo Freedom and from the injuries he gained from the Berlin Battle?

**Maileesaeya** has recently posted the story Dark Angel of Freedom. Despite how annoyingly similar its opening chapter is this story's, I promise that it will become a very, very different story once it gets going. Unfortunately, I personally have strong doubts that **Maileesaeya** will be able to update very often, so don't get your hopes up just yet.


	23. Virtues of a Super Ace

**Gundam SEED Destiny**  
Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 23: Virtues of a Super Ace_

**January 24, 74 CE  
10 miles from the North Sea  
10:17am**

The attack came from out of nowhere, with no warning and no quarter given. Nine BABIs and eight BaCUE mobile suits had appeared in the ravine that they were flying through and suddenly opened fire upon the _Archangel_. The mobile suits by themselves wouldn't have made much of an impact on the warship thanks to its laminated armor and would likely have been shot down eventually from the CWIS or missiles. But it was the barrage of a land battleship that was hiding somewhere reasonably nearby in the hills and cliffs that was proving to be the real factor of danger to the Orb warship.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on here?" Murrue asked the bridge crew, confusion thick in her voice. "Why is ZAFT suddenly attacking us?!" None of the bridge could give her an answer of course, and she was forced to immediately turn her attention back to commanding her ship.

"Enemy missiles from stern!"

"Evade them!" Murrue ordered.

The _Archangel_ began weaving from side to side as the barrage of warship-grade missile began raining down upon them. Without any mobile suits outside to protect it, the ship's CWIS and missile launchers had to rapidly respond. For the most part, they were successful in destroying the barrage but a select few did manage to sneak past and slam into the hull, further jolting the ship.

"Captain, I know you wanted to avoid fighting pointless battles," Lieutenant Amagi called up from his position in the combat command chair. "But if this keeps up, we're not going to make it! Please fight back! Or at least allow our Murasames to launch and cover the ship!"

"Yes, I understand," Murrue said, looking back at the man as she spoke. "But they're objective might be to _force_ us to attack them. I intend to make it Orb with _every one_ of your Murasames intact." A new wave of missiles came forth with the same results as the previous barrage, some slipping through and striking the ship.

"If we can just make it to the sea," Murrue said loudly. "Just hold on until then!"

"Yes madam!" the bridge crew responded, completely understanding her decision despite not necessarily agreeing with it.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_Danger!_

A strange sensation washed through him. A vague sense that told him it was _time_. That it was time for him to _return_, to _awaken_, to _fight_. He was in _danger_. The room and the sole occupant who shared it with him were in _danger_. The hallway and the large spaceship that the room was connected to were in _danger_. The potency of this danger was staggering, mind-numbing in its severity. This level of danger could only mean one outcome if it were allowed to happen: complete and utter destruction of the ship and death to all crewmembers and passengers aboard. And there was only one response he knew of that could prevent such an outcome.

As his mind began to rise back to the surface and settled back into its proper place, he let out a small groan as he felt his body be consumed by several other feelings. But unlike the instinctive fear that had roused him from his slumber, these feelings were not a good sign for him. They were of pain and excruciating heat that were usually caused by burn injuries. The pain covered just about every conceivable part of his body that there was. His head hurt, his arms hurt, his legs, his chest, his mind, he just plain _hurt! _On top of that, he felt like he was trapped within an oven. His body and the soft material that he was laying upon were most likely drenched in his sweat. And although someone had been kind enough to drape a rag upon his forehead, it had long ago lost any coolness or moisture to help him feel any better.

But that wasn't the only thing that was happening. Almost immediately after he'd come to the realization that he was in pain, Akira felt his bed—thus the entire ship—give a violent shake from a series of nearby dull explosions that almost knocked him onto the floor. The other person in the room with him was complaining quite loudly about all the shaking that was jostling him as yet another series of impacts struck the ship.

Ignoring the man near him, Akira sat up and winced deeply in his pain. Something inside him didn't agree with that movement he'd just made, a broken rib or two perhaps? He'd have to keep a close eye on himself and what he did then. His sudden movement quickly drew the attention of the long-haired blond man, momentarily silencing his ranting.

"So you're finally awake?" the man asked, sounding somewhat torn between relieved and annoyed. "You're timing couldn't be any worse, kid."

"What's going on?" he asked, gingerly holding his side as he climbed out of his bed. It came as a great, almost immeasurable, relief when his legs didn't give out from underneath him when he stood up. But the pain in his abdomen did give a momentary flare when he did so.

"You're aboard the _Archangel_ and I do believe that ZAFT or the EA is finally trying to destroy this ship," the man said with an air of almost normalcy, as though he was discussing the weather. "I'd tell you to sit back down, but I get the feeling you're not going to listen to me, are you?"

"Nope," Akira said simply as he staggered towards the door. As he exited the room, he glanced back at the man and said, "Could you do me a favor and cover for me for as long as possible?"

The man didn't get a chance to answer before the door closed on him. Turning around, Akira turned his attention to the hallway that he'd found himself in. Looking down both ways, he couldn't but wonder just where the mobile suit hangar was. Despite how much he wanted to ask for help, he couldn't because he knew what they'd do instead.

As he was about to walk off in a random direction, Akira felt something…_jolt_ within him. Blinking as a powerful yet strange sensation washed over him, he looked around again. Everything was exactly as it had been…except it felt different. It suddenly felt surreal, and yet he suddenly somehow knew where he was and how to get to where he wanted to go. It was like he was floating through the air, despite his body responding to his desires and moving through the hallways with his floating conscious.

Arriving at an elevator, he stared blankly at its keypad. It required a specific access code to be opened, but what was it? In the surreal feeling that he was experiencing, Akira suddenly noticed a young, brown-haired teenager in an Earth Forces' uniform come running down the hallway and stop in front of the elevator, rapidly punching in the access code. With his task completed, the teenaged soldier simply vanished from sight, allowing Akira to move forward and repeat the access code. A subtle hiss and the opening of the elevator's doors followed the code that Akira had entered.

Upon reaching the hangar level and exiting the elevator, Akira noticed that same brown-haired boy from earlier. Only this time he was exiting a nearby room wearing a blue pilot's uniform. Instantly, Akira understood: that was where the pilot dressing room was. And since he was likely going to into some pretty intense fighting, he didn't want to fly a mobile suit wearing only his torn pair of pants and the simple hospital gown. It took far longer than it should have for him to get dressed into a uniform that he'd managed to find that fit his size.

Entering the hangar itself, Akira experienced yet another flash of surrealism. In place of the fourteen Murasame that were packed into the mobile suit racks, he saw a lone Gundam mobile suit that was resting in the nearest rack. The surreal picture only lasted for but an instant, but it was still enough to add to his growing discomfort. What was going on?!

Shaking the images out of his head, Akira quickly ducked behind one of the mobile suit racks to examine the Orb mobile suits around. All it took was a mere glance at the machines' limbs for his experienced eyes to pick up the subtle signs and he couldn't help but feel aggravated. Despite being a nation that was lenient to Coordinators, not a single one of these Murasames was equipped to be piloted by a Coordinator, save for the yellow unit. But that unit was currently in pieces, apparently having taken some damage recently, maybe from the battle in Berlin?

Growling quietly, Akira began slinking through the hangar. He couldn't be certain that these were the only units that they had available from his current position. But he truly hoped that they weren't because he really didn't want a repeat of what had happened back at the Lohengrin Gate. As he was just starting to give up hope of finding something he could fly to fight in, he spotted the only machine that he could take. It was an antique, and more than likely to be shot down in the battle that was taking place. But it was still capable of being equipped with Striker packs, and that could give him a _much_ needed edge!

Steeling his resolve, Akira scampered over to the machine and ducked inside it, hands flying over the controls immediately.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Miriallia was doing her duty, reporting all the positions of the incoming mobile suits and missiles as they constantly shifted and dodged. She really didn't like what she was seeing. The pilots of the BaCUEs were unquestionably more skilled than the BABIs. In the past few minutes, only three of them had been damaged and forced to retreat while about five of the BABIs had been.

Things weren't looking good at all. If only they could send out at least one or two mobile suits so they could take some of the pressure off the _Archangel_. If only Kira was well enough to pilot, he could fly one of the Murasames himself…

Shaking her mind out of those thoughts, she returned her attention to the screen in time to catch a warning. Bringing up the warning, she gasped as she watched the feed roll down her monitor. Speaking into her microphone, she immediately attempted to override the commands, "HEY! What are you doing?! Get out of there!" The abort launch commands wouldn't respond!

Her unintentionally loud shout drew a few glances from the bridge.

"What's happening, Miriallia?" Murrue asked.

Before she could give a response, the monitor at the front of the bridge suddenly lit up with Chief Murdock. "_Captain! We've got a problem down here!_"

"What's the problem?!"

"_It's the kid! He's going out!_"

"What?!" Murrue demanded, sounding very surprised and worried. "In his condition?!"

Then, over the bridge speakers, a hauntingly familiar voice called out, "_Akira Iyadomi, launching!_"

Immediately standing up, Cagalli took off her headset and ran towards the bridge door as she said, "I'm going out there. Mir, call the hangar to prep the Rouge!"

"Sit down!" Murrue barked instantly. "In this kind of battle—"

"Kira is fighting almost a dozen mobile suits while badly injured!" Cagalli snapped back even as she opened the door. "He needs all the help he can get!" Murrue wasn't able to respond to that before the door closed behind Cagalli.

Frowning unhappily, she turned to Miriallia and said, "Inform the hangar that the Strike Rouge is heading out."

"Yes madam," Miriallia responded and quickly set about her task.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Minerva**_

"We have a feed from the AWACS," Bart called out from his station. "It's a visual of the situation ahead."

The bridge crew of the _Minerva_ all turned to watch the battle feed. The _Archangel_ was in the center of the image, flying down a ravine that was caught in the midst of a strong snowstorm. There were trails of light indicating the CWIS of the legendary warship with quite a few bubbles of light appearing every so often at random intervals, signifying an explosion of some kind. Down in the pilots' debriefing room, the resident pilots of the _Minerva_ studied the layout of the ravine as well as the general wave-like patterns that the _Archangel_'s CWIS was putting out.

Though he'd never admit it, Shinn was reluctantly impressed with the sheer amount of guns that the ship possessed. It would make getting close enough to it to deliver a killing blow exceptionally difficult, even for his superior – no, _godly!_ – piloting skills. But he'd bring down this 'legendary' warship, because he, unlike _all_ others before him, was the greatest mobile suit pilot to have ever lived! Still, it was kind of a disappointment that the ship hadn't launched any mobile suits to defend it. He would've very much enjoyed killing a few more of those repulsive Orb citizens before turning his attention to the mothership. The world would be such a better place if that despicable nation had never existed!

Just as he was about to turn away, he noticed something out of the corner of the visual feed. Facing the monitor again, he studied the image carefully. There wasn't anything there…yet he could've _sworn_ he'd seen something!

Just as he was about to shrug it off as his imagination, he caught sight of 'it' again. This time 'it' was rapidly rushing forward towards the camera itself! Just before the feed was cut off and replaced with static, Shinn had caught sight of a single airplane rushing the AWACS, beam cannon blazing.

"They sent out a _single_ _mobile armor_ to defend themselves?" Shinn wasn't sure if he felt horribly insulted or highly amused. "The _arrogance_ of those _bastards!_"

"Shinn," Rey called out, stopping Shinn from entering the elevator. "Don't take that mobile armor pilot _lightly_. Remember, he just took out the AWACS by himself. Clearly, he's got some _exceptional_ skill."

Pausing only for a moment, Shinn gave his best friend a grin as he stepped into the elevator and answered, "You worry too much, Rey."

Rey didn't have the chance to respond as the elevator doors suddenly closed behind Shinn.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Groaning loudly as he fought the pain that was tearing through his body, Akira put the Skygrasper into a sharp roll to the side. It was by mere centimeters that he managed to dodge the BABI's beams in the horribly sluggish-moving mobile armor.

With the Aile Strike attached to the Skygrasper's backside, Akira had a tremendous increase in speed and maneuverability now available to him. But it was practically negligible when compared to the run-of-the-mill mobile suits he was fighting against. And unlike most mobile suits, the Ailegrasper had many more of its own limitations than just its maneuverability. Like it only carried eight missiles, four thousand bullets, and enough battery power for about seventy-one beam cannon blasts. With the Aile Striker attached, the number of energy attacks available tripled, which was thanks to the airplane not using PS Armor. And while the Aile Striker gave it a _badly_-needed increase in mobility, it was still practically nothing when compared to the versatility of a mobile suit.

So Akira was forced to use his Ailegrasper's superior aerodynamic speed to make hit and run attacks against the BABIs and BaCUEs once he returned to defend the _Archangel_. This was proving to exceptionally difficult because of the number of enemies had to fight off at once.

Rolling his machine over, Akira used the shield mounted upon the portside to block the large multi-phase plasma blast that a BABI had just shot at him. Yet due to the Ailegrasper possessing nowhere near the bulk of a mobile suit, the powerful blast knocked the aircraft into a seemingly uncontrolled tumble through the air. And truthfully, to any other pilot, it would've been uncontrolled.

Managing to ignore the agony in his side and back, he used his enhanced reflexes and spatial awareness to fire off three shots. Surprised by the rapid response of a still-tumbling mobile armor, two passing BABIs were struck, one in the headpiece and the other in its wing stabilizers. The damage done forced both to retreat from the battle. Boosting his engines and ignoring the sharp stab of agony from the giant bruise that covered his back, Akira put the Ailegrasper into a lunge towards the BABI that had fired upon him.

As he closed in on the ZAFT machine, he pressed the fire button, expecting to have launched a missile. Instead, the Ailegrasper began spraying some of his machine guns upon the BABI. It was just his good fortune that the bullets were able to blow off its right arm and shatter the mono-sensor of its headpiece. _Dammit!_ He cussed to himself._ Who the hell designed this piece of crap?! No wonder so many Naturals were killed in the last war! Technological nightmares, that's what these things are._

_Danger!_ Putting the Ailegrasper into a steep dive, Akira let out a loud howl of pain at once again being slammed into the pilot's seat and further abusing his bruised backside. Regardless of his pain, his quick response did manage to save his life from the hail of bullets that came arcing from behind him. It saved his life, but not without damage to the frail, old mobile armor. Some of the bullets had pierced the top right engine of the Aile Striker, killing it as gouts of black smoke erupted from it. Quickly shutting the engine down, Akira swung the Ailegrasper left, using the shield to block the BABI's follow-up shots.

Suddenly the BABI launched a volley of missiles. He couldn't dodge these! But he tried anyway, pulling sharply to the side…or he tried to when his broken rib suddenly sent an especially sharp stab of pain through him, causing to him falter. The missiles were still incoming, they were going to hit! He couldn't move in time to dodge because of his pain was limiting his movements!

Then a flash of pink beam energy shot between the two opponents, destroying the missiles as it circled around the BABI. Akira glanced behind him just in time to see the BABI reacting too late to a new attacker, who was already bringing its beam sword down. As the BABI exploded, silhouetting Akira's savior in flames, Akira quickly recognized the machine. The MBF-02 Strike Rouge, Miss Cagalli Yula Athha's personal mobile suit!

"_You know, this is the second time I've saved your life, Kira_," Cagalli said as she turned the Sword Strike Rouge to face the BaCUEs as she dropped to the ground. "_I hope you're not going to make a habit out of this_."

It took Akira just a moment to recollect himself before he was able to respond, "I had everything perfectly under control, Miss Cagalli. I'd have shot that bad boy down if you'd have just given me twenty more seconds with him."

"_Oh really?_" Cagalli asked in an almost teasing manner. "_Then maybe I should just return to the __**Archangel**__ and let you handle the rest by yourself?_"

As they were speaking, a trio of BaCUEs had turned and rushed towards the Strike Rouge, igniting their beam sabers. The remaining pair of BaCUEs continued to harass the _Archangel_'s belly with their railguns and missiles. The leader of the attacking trio opened up on Cagalli with its railguns. Cagalli hurriedly, if somewhat awkwardly jumped to the side and dodged the shots. The two other BaCUEs suddenly shot forward from around the leader's sides and aimed their missile launchers.

But before they could open fire, Akira came swooping down from behind and fired upon one of them, disabling the missile launcher and destroying the headpiece. The unexpected destruction of one of their partners caught the other BaCUEs by surprise, which was just what Cagalli needed to be able to throw her Midas Messers boomerang at the other one. The beam weapon sliced the bulky missile launcher clean off the BaCUE's backside.

"Well, if you insist on it," Akira said, picking up on their earlier conversation. "I suppose I could use a side-kick."

That earned a loud snort over the radio from Cagalli, even as she caught the rebounding weapon and jumped away from the charging BaCUE leader. "_Yeah right, __**little**__ brother_," she muttered over the radio. "_**You're**__ the side-kick here_."

That statement froze Akira for just an instant. Little brother? Brother?! He was Cagalli Yula Athha, the youngest Chief Representative in the history of Orb and a war-hero of the First Valentine War, sibling?! How was that possible?

Snapping his mind back to the present, Akira swung the Ailegrasper around and watched as Cagalli attempted to fight off the remaining two BaCUEs. But it was sadly obvious that she was at the disadvantage, and not just because of her slight lack of experience. It was that her only long-range weaponry available were her Vulcan guns and boomerang.

"Cagalli," he called out. "I've got some little presents for you. Happy birthday!"

Flying low over the combatants, Akira ejected the beam rifle and shield down towards the pink Strike. Forewarned, Cagalli holstered her beam sword, leapt up and easily caught the falling objects. Immediately she brought them down to bear and unleashed a barrage of beams upon the BaCUEs, destroying one very quickly. Landing lightly, Cagalli was able to put her newly acquired shield to instant use, blocking the remaining BaCUE's railgun shots even as she shot out the mobile suit's knees.

Akira couldn't help but smile slightly at the young woman's accuracy. It would seem that she was much more accustomed to using the Aile Striker than the Sword Striker. In fact, he was willing to bet that if he hadn't taken the Aile Striker, she probably could've handled the entire attacking force all on her own without _too_ much trouble.

Suddenly a trio of blinding flares suddenly lit up the area around the _Archangel_, the radar and other sensors inside the Ailegrasper suddenly died. Jamming shells?! Those could usually only be fired from a capital-class warship, which meant that the _Archangel_ was about to get into a whole lot of trouble very quickly! This meant that—_Danger!_

Gritting his teeth against his pain as he was pressed back into the pilot's seat, Akira yanked the sluggish Ailegrasper upwards immediately. As he did so, a green beam shot through the space that he would've occupied had he not dodged. Putting the Ailegrasper into a series of rolls and dives, he proceeded to dodge a number of follow-up shots. However, halfway through these maneuvers, a stab of agony in his abdomen momentarily incapacitated Akira. This caused him to swing the Ailegrasper into a wide arcing turn, interrupting his earlier dodges, and unknowingly saving himself yet again from the unknown attacker. Quickly forcing his pain to the back of his mind, Akira brought his plane around, and felt no small amount of fear filter through his system as he spotted his newest enemy.

It was the Impulse!

In absolutely _any_ other machine, Akira wouldn't be worried. But with him stuck in an antique jetfighter and matched against the most aggressive pilot that ZAFT had to offer, he realized his chances of survival had just plummeted drastically. Akira's only saving grace was that Shinn was using his beam rifle, meaning that Akira could still manage to survive – maybe even beat him – long enough to return to the _Archangel_. If Shinn took up a beam saber and closed the distance, he would be finished!

But Cagalli was out here and if he returned to the ship _now_…

"I've got no choice then," Akira muttered to himself. He needed to stay out here for as long as possible to draw the Impulse away from _Archangel_ and Cagalli for the last precious few miles that the ship was from the sea. Calling out over the radio, he said, "Miss Cagalli, please return and defend the _Archangel_ from those last two BaCUEs. I'll deal with this guy."

"_But, Kira!_" Cagalli yelled as she turned the Strike Rouge to face the Impulse. "_If you do that, you'll be—!_"

"_GO NOW!!_" Akira yelled over the radio, even as he forced the pathetically slow jetfighter into another series of dodges, narrowly evading the Impulse's shots. "You are far more important than I am! Besides, I can still win this fight!"

Perhaps it was the sheer force of will that Akira used when he ordered the girl to leave. Perhaps it was seeing him actually being able to repeatedly (even if just _barely_) dodge the Gundam's shots. Perhaps it was simply the fact that the only time Cagalli actually remembered her brother yelling at her was when she was being completely unreasonable in regards to something. Or perhaps it was all the aforementioned possibilities. Whatever the reason was, the Strike Rouge quickly turned and rushed off to rejoin the fleeing _Archangel_, leaving Akira and Shinn free of distractions.

Gunning the throttle, Akira went into a purposely large spin. The Impulse remained hovering in its position, merely firing upon the agile little armor as it circled around to attack it. Akira could see it in the Impulse's movements. There was an almost imperceptible laziness to the Impulse's shots, like it was merely shooting its rifle and expecting Akira to fly right into the beam. Shinn wasn't taking him seriously, no doubt expecting him to be some mere (pathetic) Natural pilot. That could work to Akira's advantage!

As he was spinning the Ailegrasper around to face the Impulse, his radio suddenly came to life with a woman's voice. Even as she began speaking, Akira began weaving as best he could between the Impulse's half-hearted shots.

"_This is the captain of the __**Minerva**__ speaking, Talia Gladys. __**Archangel**__, do you read me?_" the woman introduced herself as. "_Our orders are clear. Headquarters has assigned our ship the task of destroying the __**Archangel**__. However, if your ship and its mobile weapons cease all combat operations and surrender, we will likewise halt our attack. This is your only warning. We will not respond to any further proposals. I guarantee the safety of your crew and I hope you'll make the wise decision. Gladys out_."

Akira quickly sent out a response into his radio to all who were capable of receiving it in the immediate area, namely the _Archangel_, _Minerva_, and even Cagalli and the Impulse. "The _quickest_ path to peace is the one _most_ drenched in blood. But is it the _best_ path?"

There was only a moment of silence that followed Akira's statement, a silence that even the Impulse had momentary halted its attack. Akira could almost feel the confusion emitting from the many people who'd heard his question. They didn't seem to understand just what he was trying to say.

"_This is Murrue Ramius speaking, I'm the captain of the __**Archangel**_," a voice over the radio suddenly said. "_I truly appreciate your generous offer, thank you. But, regretfully, it is an offer that we simply __**cannot**__ accept. Our ship still has work to do. Between the Alliance and the PLANTs, the world is once again split into two separate camps, and perhaps we seem like merely another meddling faction. However, that is precisely why we cannot afford to disappear at this time. I hope you'll allow us to take our leave from the battle_."

That statement brought a small smile to Akira's face. Clearly, Murrue had understood what he'd been trying to say. That realization made Akira feel a lot better about his unexplainable impulse to protect the ship. With that thought in mind, he quickly refocused his mind on the battle at hand.

As he came charging forward, making a classic Natural suicide attack strategy, head to head, opened fire with his machine guns. The bullets predictably bounced uselessly off the VPS armor of the Gundam as he shot towards it. Just as he was almost upon it, he caught sight of something that immediately had Akira yanking back on the control yoke. The Impulse had grabbed a beam saber!

For just a split instant before he pulled back on the yoke, pain lanced up Akira's spine. That split second wince of pain caused Akira to respond just a little too late to the Impulse's swing towards his jetfighter. The distance between them had closed too greatly and the Impulse had only enough room and time to make a single slash. Thanks to Akira's last second evasion, only the tip of the beam saber connected and sent graving slash down through the entire length of the fuselage and part of the cockpit!

Akira let out a yell as the cockpit of the Ailegrasper suddenly exploded in fire and pummeled him with superheated shrapnel.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Shinn couldn't help the satisfied sneer from crawling across his face. That pilot of that mobile armor really was as stupid as he thought it was! Did he really believe that he'd be taken out by such a pathetic attack as that?! Spinning around, he launched his Gundam off towards the _Archangel_. The idiotic pilot of that armor didn't even desire a second's more of his attention.

As he came rushing to attack the warship's engines, he grinned widely as he opened fire upon the nearest one. The laminated armor surrounding the engine proved to be extremely tough, but it would fall under his power sooner or later. When the _Archangel_ launched a series of missiles from its aft launcher tubes, Shinn pulled the Impulse into a sharp climb with his shield raised. Most of the missiles missed, but the select few that didn't were blocked.

Just as he was lowering his shield, a flash of pink on the backside of the _Archangel_ was all the warning that Shinn got before a volley of beams came rushing up towards him. Raising his shield once again, he was forced to back off and away. Reaching a suitably safe distance away, he lowered his shield again and spotted his newest enemy. It was the Athha bitch's Strike Rouge! It was riding on the _Archangel_ with its shield and rifle raised, just waiting for him to come back within its firing range.

But before he could do much more than glare hatefully at the pink Strike, an alarm sounded – _a target lock?!_ Dodging to the side, Shinn spotted his attacker easily by following the trail of beams back to its source. What he saw surprised him. The mobile armor hadn't been destroyed?! Sure, its cockpit was blown open and had a long slash down the center of the fuselage which was a large plume of smoke trailing after it, but the Aile Striker on its stern was still in mostly one piece and was otherwise still up and flying!

"What kind of lunatic would still fight when his machine is like that?!" he wondered to himself absently as he was forced to dodge the now frantically firing mobile armor.

Sneering conceitedly, Shinn realized just what the pilot was trying to do. He wanted to draw Shinn away from the _Archangel_ by pummeling the Impulse with this pathetic amount of firepower. Okay, if he wanted to die that badly, so be it!

Launching himself forward, Shinn once again switched his beam rifle for a saber as he came rushing in. At this range, there was no way the pilot could dodge! But just as he was drawing the saber back to make a slash, the mobile armor shifted and opened fire, blowing apart the saber hilt that was exposed under the Impulse's hand. Shinn was so surprised that he didn't manage to react until the plane had already shot passed him.

But when he did react, it was punctuated by an angry yell. How could he allow himself to be tricked like that into lowering his guard?! That bastard was going to pay! Grabbing his rifle, Shinn spun the Impulse around and immediately gave chase, pushing the Gundam's engines to their maximum. This time he wasn't aiming to toy with the armor, he wanted it destroyed _now!_ Yet, somehow, the pilot seemed to be able to roll, twist, or otherwise evade all the shots that came its way. What was up with this guy?!

Then, just as he was about to give into his rage and trigger his battle calm, a lucky shot pierced the Aile Striker mounted upon its backside. It was with great pleasure that Shinn watched the striker explode. But his joy was short-lived; emerging from the top of the smoke cloud was the Skygrasper. It took a mere nanosecond for Shinn to realize just what the pilot had done. It had ejected the Aile Strike just before it blew up, then used the explosion as a source of propulsion to throw the Skygrasper into an upwards somersault!

Before Shinn could even think of dodging, the Skygrasper fired a single shot from the beam cannon mounted behind its cockpit. The beam drilled clear through the Impulse's headpiece and struck the small Force Silhouette. Though the VPS armor protected the majority of the Gundam, the Silhouette wasn't protected, which allowed the beam to pierce it and caused it to explode, sending the Impulse falling from the skies.

"Meyrin!" Shinn yelled instantly. "Send out the Chest Flyer and the Force Silhouette!"

"_We don't have any more Force Silhouettes in storage!_" Meyrin answered immediately. "_That was the last one!_"

"_Then send out the __**Blast**__ Silhouette!_" he yelled, even more angry than he had been before. What was wrong with that girl?! _Stupid bimbo!_

"_Chest Flyer, now launching_," Meyrin reported diligently. "_Impulse, standby for Blast Silhouette… Shinn, you're ordered to resume attacking the __**Archangel**__, reinforcements are incoming and will take out the mobile armor… Blast Silhouette, now launching_."

Shinn just growled to himself before answering affirmatively. This wasn't right. He'd disgraced himself against a pathetic mobile armor and now wasn't being allowed to redeem himself! But orders were orders, and he knew that even he couldn't get away with everything.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Even if he wasn't spatial aware, Akira could've felt the rage emitting from the Impulse from twenty miles away. It drew a small, satisfied smirk across his face. The hotheaded pilot obviously didn't like _that_ maneuver much, did he?

Akira couldn't help but thank his dear pink angel that he had decided to wear one of the _Archangel_'s pilot suits. If he hadn't, he would've most certainly been blinded when that shrapnel had showered his face and be covered in a large number of burns and stab wounds. That and be unable to see or breathe from the freezing high speed winds that were racing through the newly-exposed cockpit. Although a small portion of him was grateful for the canopy damage, the freezing winds were doing absolute wonders at soothing the raging furnace that was the fever he was experiencing, even though he was having some trouble keeping his stomach from heaving itself into his helmet. But that was where his luck ended. With the damage done to his Skygrasper, he lost a fair amount of his sensors and radio equipment. He had to rely entirely upon his spatial awareness from now on.

As he was circling around to survey the battlefield, Akira noticed two things almost immediately. The first was the _Minerva_ was predictably already sending the replacement parts for what Akira had just destroyed. In another thirty seconds, the Impulse would be back up and running as though nothing had even happened. The second was a sudden incoming pair of GOUF Ignited mobile suits.

Growling in aggravation, Akira turned to face off against the GOUFs. Without the Aile Striker, this was going to…difficult. With a loud battle cry, Akira gunned the throttle and went rocketing towards the closer of the pair. As he drew closer, the two GOUFs opened fire upon him with their wrist-mounted beam cannons. Without the Aile Striker to help accent his mobility, Akira was fortunate to not get blown to pieces outright. Awareness and luck enabled him to weave been the crisscrossing lines of fire until he was nearly upon the GOUF when one of them clipped the Skygrasper's portside engine, blowing it up!

But the GOUF wasn't moving. Did the pilot believe that the mobile armor was going to explode shortly after being hit like that? Smirking darkly to himself, Akira came up with a crazy idea. By this time, he was so close that a collision was practically unavoidable! Jamming the throttle forward, Akira sat back and yanked the emergency ejection lever, blasting the pilot's chair high into the air and safely away. It wasn't until the GOUF pilot had spotted the ejection seat rocketing away that he realized just what Akira was planning and attempted to dodge away. But it was way too late by then, the Skygrasper slammed full-throttle into the GOUF.

Although the Skygrasper was destroyed immediately, the GOUF was merely knocked mightily out of the skies, its superior armor alloys keeping the mobile suit relatively intact. But despite the armor, the pilot wasn't spared from a merciless beating inside the cockpit, which only further allowed the GOUF to continue its fall from the sky.

Landing heavily upon the snow-covered battlefield despite the parachute that was attacked to the seat, Akira let out a loud cry of agony as the pain in his abdomen gave a savage flare. He didn't fight gravity as it claimed him, but he most certainly embraced to freezing snow, letting its chill sooth his pain away to a more bearable level. After a few precious moments to regain his strength, Akira looked up and around his current position.

He was upon a cliff overlooking the ravine. About two miles away was the _Archangel_ as it continued its attempt to flee the _Minerva_. Flying around it was the Impulse, now wearing its Blast Silhouette, and was showering the warship with volleys of missiles and plasma beams. Under that kind of barrage, the _Archangel_ definitely wouldn't last more than few minutes at most! Looking around, Akira spotted the GOUF that he'd knocked down only a couple hundred meters away and immediately began stumbling over towards it.

"When this battle is over," he grumbled to himself as he reached the downed GOUF and began climbing up its leg. "I'm going to take a three-month vacation in New Zealand."

Reaching the cockpit, he quickly hacked the access code and opened the hatch. Inside he found the ZAFT pilot still sitting in his chair, his neck bent at an unnatural angle with the visor to his helmet shattered. The poor man's eyes were clearly glazed over in death. Choking back on the guilt that immediately rose up in him, Akira gently and respectfully eased the man out of his pilot's seat and laid him down on the armor of the GOUF.

Once climbing inside the GOUF and powering it back up, Akira let out a small sigh of relief. As far as damage went, most of it was trivial cockpit monitors and a few broken safety bracings (the likely cause of death for the pilot). The main monitor worked, as did the weapon systems and basic movement parameters. That was how he was very carefully able to lift the pilot off the GOUF's chest armor and lay him upon the ground.

Before taking off, Akira gave the pilot a respectful salute, silently begging forgiveness from the man's soul.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**1 mile from the North Sea**

Shinn watched dispassionately as the accursed _Archangel_ began to slowly lose altitude thanks to the damage he'd inflicted onto two of its engines and destroying the third, despite that bitch's best efforts to keep him distracted. The fact that the _Archangel_ was still somehow managing to stay in the air surprised and annoyed him. Up until this point, he'd been mostly focusing on their engines and aft weapons systems.

Perhaps he should stop playing with the Athha bitch and her underlings and take them out once and for all? Yes, then no one would dare question that he was greatest pilot of all time! And when he finally found and killed Iyadomi, the shithead might begin to understand just how fully and utterly fucked he was for interfering with Shinn's life!

With these thoughts in mind, Shinn turned and launched a spray of Firefly missiles at the Strike Rouge. Seeing the missiles slam into the pink mobile suit and ignite into large explosions drew a deeply satisfied sneer upon his face. Now, if only he could've seen the bitch's expression before he'd incinerated her, then he could've died a happy man! He didn't bother to wait to see the extent of the damage he'd inflicted to the machine though. He had a much bigger fish to fry!

Turning his attention back upon the warship, he wove his way around the _Archangel_'s CWIS and came to a hover in front of the bridge's viewport. With flashing eyes, the Impulse's camera was quickly able to spot the various crewmembers on the bridge of the Athha bitch's ship. Seeing their expressions morph into those of terror at the realization that they were about to die brought unspeakably _great_ pleasure to Shinn. With his sneer growing slightly, he brought his Kerberos cannons up to bear and readied to incinerate the whole lot of them for their crimes against him!

Just as he was fingering the trigger, a red blur appeared out of nowhere and coiled itself around the Impulse's right cannon. A mighty yank accomplished two deeds in one act. It pulled the hovering Gundam roughly to the side, just enough for the near-pointblank shots to go horribly wide and miss. And it also damaged the captured Kerberos just as it was beginning to fire, causing the heavy beam cannon to explode and knock the Impulse tumbling down upon the _Archangel_'s hull.

"What's going on?!" he demanded over the radio as he recovered and turned to face his attacker.

He saw a pair of GOUFs hovering fairly close by, with the heavily-damaged Strike Rouge using its remaining arm to point a beam rifle up towards them. However, even as he watched, one of the GOUFs suddenly lashed out with its Slayer Whip at its companion. Despite the pilot's best efforts, the attacked GOUF's headpiece was brutally smashed as the whip encircled its torso. The electrical discharges from the weapon pierced the GOUF and triggered a large explosion that tore it to pieces.

"What're you _doing, you __**traitor**__?!_" he yelled hatefully over the radio.

"_How can I betray something if I never joined it?_" a calm voice that Shinn vaguely recognized as the one from earlier asked as the GOUF withdrew its Tempest beam sword from its shield while retracting its whip. "_But I will __**not**__ allow you to sink the __**Archangel!**__ And, Miss Cagalli, please board the __**Archangel**__ right now!_"

Shinn needed no further encouragement to unleash his full wrath upon the turncoat GOUF before him. Raising his remaining Kerberos cannon, he fired at his new enemy. But his enemy was no slouch, easily evading the blast while moving its shield into a defensive position.

Grabbing the Defiant beam javelin from his remaining Kerberos cannon, Shinn ignited it as he raced forward and began swinging the beam weapon in almost wild attacks to kill his enemy. "_I'm going to __**kill**__ you!!_"

"_You can try_," the pilot answered just as calmly as he had before while his GOUF ducked and weaved between the Impulse's swings.

Realizing that his swings weren't even coming close to touching his enemy, Shinn snapped his Kerberos up and opened fire…only to miss yet again as the GOUF neatly sidestepped it. As it hovered there in midair, it raised its arm and gave a simple 'come on' gesture.

'_Is he…Is he __**toying**__ with me?_' Shinn couldn't help but ask himself. His rage flared yet again after only a moment of consideration. His rage allowed him to access his battle calm as he realized just what the pilot was doing. '_**HE'S TOYING WITH ME!!!**_'

With a loud roar of rage, he fired the Kerberos again. This time the GOUF wasn't quite entirely able to get clear in time, losing the lower half of its right leg and knee. As the GOUF began to retreat, Shinn pursued hotly, his Deluge railguns blazing furiously. But despite his best efforts, the GOUF managed to dodge the shots, often times by mere centimeters. The GOUF began to make a wide circle to turn around before rushing forward its Tempest sword at the ready.

Shinn quickly disengaged the legs module, causing the GOUF's sword to slash only air as it soared past. Quick as a flash, the module reattached itself as the Impulse spun around, Kerberos blazing furiously. Though the GOUF managed to dodge to the side at the last moment, one of the blasts were still able to blow off its left arm and shield. This destruction earned a slightly satisfied smirk from Shinn before he refocused his attention on the battle.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Archangel**_

Miriallia had first watched with fear as she saw one of the last three of the ZAFT mobile suits in the area managed to bypass the _Archangel_'s CWIS and come within only a few short meters away from the bridge window. She, like most of the others in the bridge, barely had enough time to react before the Blast Impulse lifted its plasma cannons to fire pointblank into the ship. The next second passed as if in slow motion for Mir as suddenly a glowing red _thing_ shot out of nowhere and yanked the Gundam away, saving the ship.

Once regaining her wits after her near-death, Miriallia focused her attention upon her station's console. It came as a great surprise to learn that a ZAFT mobile suit had been the one to save them, as well as disabling the second GOUF who was hovering nearby. With practiced ease, she was able to hack into the ZAFT radio frequency just in time to hear a brief argument between the Gundam pilot and their savior. Miriallia honestly felt extremely surprised and relieved when she quickly recognized the voice of their savior.

"Captain!" she called. "I've just hacked the ZAFT frequencies. The GOUF that's fighting the Impulse is being piloted by Kira!"

"What?!" several voices responded.

Recovering quickly, Murrue called, "What's Cagalli's status?"

"She's landing in the starboard catapult even as we speak, madam," Miriallia answered.

"We've reached the shore, Captain!" Neumann reported from the pilot's seat. "We can commence diving in about another five hundred meters."

"Keep pushing it!" Murrue ordered. "We're almost there, people."

"Enemy missiles incoming from stern! Seven of them!" Miriallia called out as she detected the small, fast-moving heat sources.

"Evade! Helldarts fire!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Growling angrily as he watched his foe spin around to face him again, Shinn tucked the cannon back and brought up its missile launcher end. With a quick lock, he fired the four remaining Firefly missiles at the GOUF. Immediately, the GOUF opened fire with its remaining Draupnir beam wrist cannon, but was only able to hit two of the four agile little missiles. As the other two rapidly closed the distance, the GOUF swung its sword forward and sliced both missiles apart in one swing.

"Meyrin! Send out the Sword Silhouette!" Shinn ordered as he fell into a deeper rage.

Truthfully, he hadn't expected that attack to work either, but it did provide a perfect distraction for him to sneak up from the side and disembowel the traitor! Just as he was stabbing the Defiant javelin forward, the GOUF rotated and caught the beam weapon with its own weapon. Even with the Blast Impulse using its superior engines to roughly push the GOUF backwards and out over the open sea, Shinn still couldn't force his way past the Tempest sword.

"How is this possible?!" Shinn demanded to himself angrily. "How can a mere GOUF give _me_ so much trouble?! _I'm_ _a super ace!_"

"_You just don't get it, do you?_" that irritatingly calm voice said up over the radio, as though reading Shinn's thoughts.

"Get_ what?!_" Shinn snapped furiously as he broke away from the GOUF and tried to think up a new attack strategy.

"_I can tell from the way you're piloting, you think you're invincible. But the fact is that you are __**far**__ from being worthy of the title 'super ace pilot'_," his enemy said as he once again danced out of the way of a plasma blast. "_You may possess super-Coordinator reflexes, but you obviously can't __**think**__ fast enough to keep up with that reaction speed! You're just fighting on instinct, on __**impulse**_."

"_OH YEAH?!!_" Shinn yelled in rage as he rushed forward and made a decisive swing to slice the cockpit apart. He missed once again with the GOUF merely rolling backwards away from the slash. As it rolled, its leg lashed out and kicked heavily into the Blast Impulse's torso, knocking the Gundam awkwardly to the side.

"_That's why I can predict your actions_," the pilot continued idly as he watched Shinn recover. "_Reflexes and thought must be one. This synthesis is the mark of a __**true **__**super ace!**_"

As the GOUF pilot was speaking, Shinn spotted the incoming Silhouette. Facing his enemy again, he fired his Deluge railguns at the machine, which were predictably dodged. But that was just what Shinn was hoping for, to distract the pilot from noticing the approaching weapons' pack. Rising into the air as the Silhouette arrived, Shinn returned the beam lance to its place in the Kerberos cannon while grabbing a hold of one of the beam boomerangs.

"_This battle is __**over, **__right__** now!**_" Shinn yelled as he hurled the boomerang at the now charging GOUF. The rogue machine had raised its Tempest sword and deflected the deadly projectile away even as it dashed up underneath and behind the Impulse with its weapon already in motion. However the Impulse had already grabbed one of the Excalibur beam swords, and was turning to meet its enemy.

That was when two things happened at nearly the same time.

The first being the _Minerva_ firing its Tannhauser positron cannon into the ocean to stop the limping _Archangel_ from fleeing. That positron blast, fed by the oxygen and hydrogen of the saltwater, caused a massive explosion that consumed _everything_ within a kilometer's reach of the origin point.

Meanwhile, the GOUF lashed out with a crippling slash across the Blast Impulse's backside, in an effort to slice the Gundam into halves.

"_**Why you!!**_" Shinn hollered in a blind rage as he reacted instantly.

He swung the Blast Impulse around and brought its Excalibur up in a disemboweling slash that left a blazing trail right through the unprotected left portion of the GOUF's entire torso. At the same time, the GOUF's sword chopped a diagonal slash through the remaining Kerberos and caused critical damage to the Silhouette and the Impulse's engines.

Both units were blown apart from one another from their own respective explosions. The GOUF's primary motor functions had been critically damaged from Shinn's final strike and fell into the turbulent sea below with most of its torso blown open like a gutted fish. In contrast, the Core Splendor managed to eject itself from the ruined pieces and fly away as the positron explosion swept over the area where their final climatic clash had just been dealt.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit** **Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

_**Archangel**_

The turbulence from the positron explosion was badly shaking the _Archangel_ and made it extremely difficult to control the ship's descent into the churning waters. Cracks and hull breaches were quick to spread through the damaged portions of the hull and the sections closest to them. This allowed gouts of water to gush inside and flood the interior areas with increasing speed as the water level steadily raised. However, thanks to the quick response by the crew, many of the flooding areas were quickly evacuated and sealed off, thus saving the majority of the warship and crew from certain death.

It was a similar situation that Cagalli was facing. With the Impulse's parting shot on her before it had dashed off to face Kira, the Strike Rouge's entire right arm had been blown off and small fractures had appeared in the Rouge's armor, despite the Phase Shift Armor's remarkable resilience to physical attacks like those anti-armor missiles. Due to those fractures, water was slowly but steadily seeping into her machine as she attempted to navigate the murky waters.

In front of her she could barely see the GOUF that Kira had been piloting through the sand and soil that the positron explosion had stirred up from the seabed. But what she could see only caused her to hurry over to the machine with an increased pace. Its entire left side was blown open, water having instantly filled its interior when it fell into the sea. But what really caused Cagalli to hurry was that she could clearly see into the GOUF's cockpit, which had also been exposed. Inside she could see a limp figure floating in the pilot's seat.

"Kira?!" she called over the radio, hoping against hope that he was wearing a pressurized pilot suit and helmet to protect him from drowning. And all pilot helmets came equipped with a radio as an emergency feature, so he _should've_ been able to hear Cagalli's voice. "Kira?! Are you okay?!"

She received no response as she finally reached the stolen ZAFT machine and carefully grabbed a hold of it with her Rouge's remaining arm. As she was slowly guiding the blue machine towards where the _Archangel_ was fast sinking, a fairly large explosion suddenly flared to life, blasting out over the sea's surface and causing further turbulence to the already violent currents of the water. But Cagalli paid it no mind; she needed to get Kira to the infirmary!

…_Again!_

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Whew! First I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you for **FriedRice** and **FictionReader98**'s help with my work on this chapter. Truthfully, I doubt that this chapter would've turned out as well as it has without their help and criticism to remind to slow down and limit Akira's strength while flying the Skygrasper.

That was a whole lot of fun to write, especially where I had Akira owning Shinn. Yes, yes, I 'borrowed' that scene from Gundam 00 (again). I just really, _really_ liked that scene, one of the best of the whole first season in my humble opinion.

But I have to wonder, how many of you were actually expecting Akira to have taken the Strike Rouge at first? Probably damn near all of you eh? I don't blame you for assuming that. Why? Because no one _ever_ considers the possibility of sending Kira out to fight a battle in anything less than the Strike, Freedom, Strike Freedom, or some other _mobile suit._ But at the same time, they totally disregard the much more mass-produced mobile armors as (rightly so) inconsequential…unless they're carrying nuclear warheads.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is probably one of the first (if not _the_ first) fanfics you've ever read to have done this, right? Kira flies a jetfighter in combat and doesn't do _too_ bad of a job considering his injuries.


	24. Identity

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 24: Identity_

**January 26, 74 CE  
**_**Minerva**_**  
9:42pm**

One of the better perks to being assigned to FAITH was being able to be assigned single quarters. This allowed Athrun the chance to watch the feed of Shinn's battle during the Operation that had just apparently been completed.

He just couldn't understand it. Why did Chairman Durandal order the _Archangel_'s destruction like that?! They caused more chaos than was needed on the battlefields a few times, but that shouldn't have been enough to warrant this. Especially considering they were some of the first people to able to react to the Destroy's rampage. While all these questions were spiraling through his mind, his brief conversation with Tolle and Cagalli kept jumping back to the forefront of his mind. He just didn't understand the Chairman anymore. But he was definitely going to have a _long_ conversation with the man the next time he saw him!

However, this controversial operation was part of the reason he was in his room now, watching the footage taken of the battle between Shinn and the rogue GOUF. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something…vaguely familiar about its fighting style.

So, after Shinn had been rushed to the infirmary when the Core Splendor, on autopilot, had landed with his unconscious form, Athrun had requested a copy of the battle record from the mechanics as they set about checking for damage and any necessary repairs. It seemed that due to Shinn's reckless piloting, the number of Chest and Leg Flyer modules was being steadily decreased at a fairly alarming rate. They'd have to do some major repairs quickly on what they had or resupply as soon as possible at Gibraltar.

From the viewpoint of the Impulse, Athrun watched as the GOUF came charging forward with its Tempest sword in one hand, swinging forward towards the Gundam but missing as the Impulse outmaneuvered it. He'd seen this style before…_somewhere_.

Hearing his door opening, Athrun paused the recording and turned to his visitor. It was Lunamaria and Heine.

"So this is what you've been doing, Athrun?" Luna asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Uh, yeah," he answered, turning to better greet his fellow pilots. "…I just wanted to see just why and how Shinn was beaten so easily."

"Don't we all?" Luna muttered in a surprisingly dark tone as she glanced away, earning questioning glances from both of her superior officers, though only Heine had any idea what had caused that kind of reaction. But glancing back, she asked in her normally cheerful tone, "Any progress yet, sir?"

"No, not yet," he answered truthfully. "Though I think I'm getting close to figuring it out."

"Oh?" Heine asked, moving up to Athrun to better see the screen. "How so?"

"Watch how it moves," Athrun stated as he rewound the video. After only a few moments of viewing the screen, Heine's eyes widened as he too recognized certain similarities. But unlike Athrun, Heine had a much easier time guessing, especially since he'd recently fought side by side with a pilot who fought in a practically identical manner as the GOUF's pilot.

"I see," Heine said, leaning forward slightly. "An impressive use of the thrusters and AMBAC verniers, the fluidity of his swordsmanship shows a high familiarity with piloting, and his reaction time is nothing short of superb…He flies it like it's an extension of his own body."

"Not many people can pilot like that," Luna pointed out, watching over Athrun's shoulder with interest as she too spotted the portions that Heine had remarked on. "I bet it is Iyadomi flying."

Both young men turned to look at her with carefully schooled expressions. For just a moment, Luna felt as though she was a mere ten-year-old who'd said something either extremely silly or unintelligent in front of someone she'd wanted to impress. This caused her to blush ever so slightly under their scrutiny before her patented outspoken-self reasserted itself. "Well, come on! We all know that the _Archangel_ had been the ones to take the Neo Freedom aboard when it crashed! Maybe Iyadomi survived somehow!"

Turning back to the screen as it once again replayed the part of the final confrontation, Athrun quietly stated, "Kira does have a tendency of surviving the impossible."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Infirmary, **_**Minerva  
**_**6:00am**

_He was losing._

_Realizing that his swings weren't even coming close to touching his enemy, Shinn snapped his Kerberos up and opened fire…only to miss yet again as the GOUF neatly sidestepped it. As it hovered there in midair, it raised its arm and gave a simple 'come on' gesture._

"You just don't get it, do you?_" the enemy pilot said._

"_Get what?!" he demanded angrily, mostly angry at himself._

_With a quick lock, he fired the four remaining Firefly missiles at the GOUF. Immediately, the GOUF opened fire with its remaining Draupnir beam wrist cannon. How could he be losing a battle to such a generic mobile suit?!_

"You are _far_ from being worthy of the title 'super ace pilot'_,"__ his enemy said as he once again danced out of the way of a plasma blast._

_Facing his enemy again, he fired his Deluge railguns at the machine, which were predictably dodged._

"You may possess super-Coordinator reflexes, but you obviously can't _think_ fast enough to keep up with that reaction speed! You're just fighting on instinct, on _impulse_._"_

_No, that wasn't true. It wasn't true!! He was the best pilot ever, wasn't he? Of course he was!_

"_OH YEAH?!!__" Shinn yelled in rage as he rushed forward and made a decisive swing to slice the cockpit apart. He missed once again with the GOUF merely rolling backwards, away from the slash. As it rolled, its leg lashed out and kicked heavily into the Blast Impulse's torso, knocking the Gundam awkwardly to the side._

"That's why I can predict your actions_," the pilot continued idly as he watched Shinn recover. "_Reflexes and thought must be one. This synthesis is the mark of a _true super ace!__"_

_The GOUF swooped behind him and used its sword to chop a diagonal slash through the remaining Kerberos and caused critical damage to the Silhouette and the Impulse's engines._

_He lost. He, a ZAFT super ace, had been defeated. And not just simply just defeated, but completely and utterly humiliated on the battlefield, twice over. First to an obsolete mobile armor, and now to a stolen GOUF. Why? Why?! WHY?!!_

"_You are no super ace," the GOUF pilot's voice declared calmly, echoing through his consciousness._

Eyes snapping open, Shinn sat bolt upright as he was momentarily disoriented. His instincts were screaming at him to find his enemy and fight him again, to avenge his loss. But what he saw around him wasn't the familiar boxy and slightly cramped cockpit of the Core Splendor. Nor was he lying on the ground next to the destroyed debris of Impulse. He was lying on an uncomfortably stiff bed in a room that was currently darkened, likely due to the earliness of the hour. It took only a moment before he recognized the room he was in, the infirmary of the _Minerva_. But how did he get here?

"_**Why you!!**__" he yelled, swinging the Excalibur up in a disemboweling slash through the GOUF's entire left side of the torso. But the GOUF's Tempest sword chopped a diagonal slash downward and caused critical damage to the Silhouette and the Impulse's engines._

_Both units were blown apart from one another from their own respective explosions._

_That's right_, Shinn realized. _I must've been knocked unconscious from that explosion and the Core Splendor had returned to the __**Minerva**__ on autopilot…I'm so __**pathetic**__ to have lost like that._

Letting out a low sigh as he forced his battle instincts to settle down, Shinn dropped back down on his bed. With nothing else to do, he silently let his thoughts drift off.

He couldn't believe it, and he couldn't _understand_ it. He was Shinn Asuka, super ace pilot of the ZGMF-X56S Impulse. How and why was he able to not only lose not one, but two battles against two separate opponents, both of whom were using weapons that should've been inferior to his own? Sure, he had mostly toyed with the Skygrasper, but that was because technologically and truthfully the jetfighter shouldn't have been able to survive any truly damaging blows. And yet it had managed to return and disabled one of his Impulse's beam sabers as well as the Impulse itself due to its surprising tactics and clearly overpowering need to fight and win.

The traitorous GOUF was both the same and yet different. It wouldn't quit, it wasn't any easy enemy to defeat, and it was able to predict his every move. Yet the pilot of the GOUF hadn't really fought back, now that Shinn was calmly remembering the battle. All the pilot had done was react to whatever attacks that he took against it, only really attacking when Shinn got too close. That was partially excusable because he knew GOUFs were largely close-range mobile suits, but still…

And what was up with that bastard of a pilot anyway? Now that he could think about it, Shinn was confused. That _traitor_ was truly something else. If there was one thing that Shinn hated even more deeply than anything else, including his hatred towards the Athha bitch and Iyadomi, were traitors. Just like that man from two years earlier, Justin Johnson, if that even was his _real_ name!

But like the pilot had said, he had mostly been able to predict Shinn's every move well before he actually made it. With a pilot of that kind of skill, why hadn't he or anyone else known of his presence being on the battlefield, whether he was a friend or enemy? In fact, the man had fought almost as well as…Iyadomi?

That thought made Shinn pause. Could that pilot of the GOUF (and maybe even the Skygrasper too) possibly have been Iyadomi? Even though it was still officially unknown whether he had survived the Neo Freedom's crash after firing that final shot at the Destroy, Shinn had heard that the _Archangel_ had been the ones to collect the Gundam's remains afterwards. It wouldn't be completely out of the question to believe that they may have saved his life…would it?

The thought of the fabled warship put a larger frown on his face. The _Archangel_ was the personal warship of Cagalli Yula Athha, and a considerable thorn in ZAFT's side in this war because of its unpredictable and unexplainable actions. And just the thought of the beautiful and lively blonde was enough to make Shinn's jaw clench in anger and shame.

Being an Orb-born Coordinator, Shinn had grown up seeing Cagalli in newspapers and television quite frequently due to her high-social status as a Princess of the Orb Union. In fact, there use to be a time where he couldn't go a single day without seeing or hearing or even thinking something about her. The fact that she was a very beautiful, fierce yet beautiful, had done much to catch his eye. But then the Battle of Orb and the deaths of his family had happened.

The sudden thought of his family caused a near-instant need for him to grab Mayu's cell phone and scroll through pictures that he had long since memorized. But he wasn't in his room, where the phone was easily and always within reach. He forcefully suppressed his need to get up and rush to his and Rey's room.

Carefully rolling over, Shinn stared into the darkness in front of him. His eyes had long since adjusted to the lack of lighting, allowing him to spot a familiar shape resting on the bedside table near him, Mayu's phone. _Rey_, he guessed with a small smile of appreciation. His best friend knew him very well.

Flipping it open, he brought the pictures up and began idly switching through them, studying the faces of those on the screen. Upon reaching the second to the last picture, he shut it down. That last picture was one that he really didn't want to see now. Because he knew that if he did, a whole torrent of inexpressible emotions would rush through him. Emotions that, with all honesty, he didn't want to experience now…or ever again. Just the sight of _her_ face…

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts of _her_ from his mind, Shinn clenched the phone to his chest. As much as he wanted to, Shinn just couldn't bring himself to erase the picture from Mayu's phone. And as much as it hurt to keep it, it would've hurt a lot more to do such a scandalous act, no matter how much he had come to resent _her_.

Instead, he began trying to remember the fading memories from before that terrible day. Back to times he'd spent with those he had loved and lost. As he had done countless times before, Shinn silently renewed his original vow. He would fight to bring about a better tomorrow, a tomorrow free of war or death or any other kind of tragedy.

He would fight for that future with all his heart and soul, and he would let _no one_ stand in his way to reach that goal!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Infirmary, **_**Archangel  
**_**6:12am**

_He was leaning against a stone balcony railing staring out at a beautiful golden-red sun that seemed vaguely familiar to him. He'd 'seen' this view before…hadn't he? But where, when, and…with whom? It was then that a gentle presence next to him made itself known to him._

_Glancing over at the person, he felt an awkward smile of happiness slide over his lips as he found himself staring at a beauty that was even more breath-taking than the scenery in front of him. His pink angel, Lacus Clyne, was positively __**glowing**__ from the golden light of the sun. Even though he'd seen this same image before, it still stunned him._

_She was smiling happily at him, completing the angelic image she probably unknowingly portrayed for him. He could see she was extremely content with where she was, standing next to him and watching the sunset. By why? Why would an angel like her be at all interested in a monster like him? Was she so accustomed and protected by this wonderful haven that she lived in that she didn't really understand or even know about the magnitude of just how much danger she was in by being near him?_

_Oh, he'd never intentionally harm a hair on her lovely head, but War and Death spared no one. And he'd already escaped more than his fair share amount of close calls and he'd been so near to Death on several occasions that he'd actually thought that he'd felt the wind of the deadly scythe a few times as it continuously swung ever closer towards him. He didn't want to think of himself as arrogant, but by now Death must've felt fairly hard-pressed to finally claim his life, and probably put it on display like some kind of trophy._

_As morbid as his thoughts were, he was immediately drawn out of his musings when he heard Lacus' soft voice as she asked, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could stay here…forever?"_

'_**Yes, it would be**__,' that was the thought that immediately came to his mind. But he merely answered with a small, uncertain smile of his own. But a killer with Death chasing after him like himself didn't deserve to be in the presence of such an innocent angel._

Opening his eyes slowly, the collected moisture that had been building up under his eyelids as he slept finally fell free and descended in arcs across his cheeks and towards his ears from the angle he was laying at.

The sight that greeted his tear-streaked eyes was the same as the previous time he'd woken. Only this time it was quite different, the room wasn't rocking uncontrollably. There were no loud battle announcements being transmitted over the intercom. He was still doped up on pain and his body felt very sore. But the most reassuring aspect of all to Akira was that there was no overwhelming sense of danger that was filling the air. No, it was actually as remarkably close to peaceful as it could get.

Noticing a presence near him, Akira shifted his head gently to the side. Sitting in a chair next to his bed was a semi-familiar blonde young woman who had apparently dozed off where she sat, probably not accustomed to the early hour or had unintentionally spent the night there. But even without her Orb military uniform and the patch hanging over her left breast, Akira was easily able to identify the young woman as Cagalli Yula Athha. What was she doing here?

"_Yeah right, __**little**__ brother__," Cagalli muttered after snorting at his previous comment. "__**You're**__ the side-kick here__._"

Snapping back to reality, Akira shook his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts. Cagalli had called him her brother back there. But what did that mean exactly? Had she merely been talking figuratively or literally? Had she truly known him for who he was before…whatever had happened to him? And she had called him 'Kira'.

Absentmindedly, Akira's hand began to drift up to his ring necklace to hold it, using its presence to reassure himself. As he was staring at it without really comprehending what it was, a small reflection of light off its smooth interior caught his eye. There, proudly shining in the light, were the initials L.C., as clear and crisp as the day he'd first seen them more than two years ago. This ring and the Neo Freedom were really the only things that he could've truly called his own personal possessions, items that he'd cherish and protect with all his heart and soul.

_He was standing in a mobile suit hangar in front of the mighty bulk of a ZAFT Gundam, the Freedom. But he was staring at the pink angel next to him as she smiled and said, "My name is simply Lacus Clyne."_

Freezing, Akira felt…something suddenly slide into place as that memory fragment made itself known to him. He had known that Lacus Clyne had been responsible for the original Freedom's theft from a ZAFT military facility in the last war. Though the identity of the pilot had never been 'officially' announced to the public, rumors were like viruses in how quickly they spread among the populations.

_He blocked the blue Gundam's beam saber with his shield. His enemy similarly blocked his saber as they continued to fall through the atmosphere. The interior of the cockpit was very quickly becoming an oven from the friction, but he ignored it as his attention was trained solely upon his enemy._

"_**You're finished!**__" his opponent snarled over the radio._

"_You won't defeat me!" he growled back as they separated._

He knew that the Freedom's pilot had been an Orb teenager named 'Kira Yamato,' who had also been the original pilot of the seemingly-unstoppable GAT-X105 Strike. And in order for a teenager to be pilot a mobile, Coordinator or not, they'd need to at least be partially familiar with computer programming and engineering.

_Brimfield turned to look sharply up at the slightly embarrassed teenager. "How is it that you cannot remember your real name, yet are a genius of computer programs and mobile suit designs, Iyadomi?"_

Akira Iyadomi wasn't his real name, he knew that full well. Back on the Mathilde Colony with the _Early Harvest_, he had merely been using it as a substitute until he'd found his own name. Then he got involved in his own war against the oppression of innocents. Somehow, over the course the ensuing battles…the name of Akira Iyadomi had become a badge of great honor and great shame to him. Yet it was a badge he could no longer separate from his being. He may not be the original of course, but regardlessly the public would forever remember the name in association with his actions. A name used by a seemingly-unstoppable freedom fighter who had no past, no friends, and was little more than a loose cannon on the battlefield.

Kira Yamato, according to rumors and what little history there was available, had been a simple, albeit brilliant, college student and a good person who valued life and peace. He was pacifist at heart. When he first piloted a mobile suit, it had been in defense of his friends and innocents against the then-heavily racist ZAFT Forces. And, in the end, his determination to bring peace had helped clear the path for the ceasefire.

"_Your name shall be Akira Iyadomi," Brimfield stated, resolutely nodding his head to his own statement. "Until you find your own name, I would be honored if you bore this one in its place…_"

Yes, he remembered that day very well for it was the first day of his life that he truly remembered. The day that _he_ had awoken; a young man in a pilot suit with no name, no past, and a blank future. He may have not had a true identity, but everything he'd done since then had been decisions and actions that _he'd_ taken of his own free will!

But was he, who he was now, really even this person, Kira Yamato, anymore? All he remembered was that he, Akira Iyadomi, was an amnesic teenager who had been found, raised, and trained by pirates, and had piloted of one of the most powerful Gundams to have ever been built. He was a freedom fighter at heart. A reluctant warrior to be sure, but still a warrior.

Thoughts racing at a million miles per hour within his mind, Akira let out a quiet groan as he slowly sat up. Reaching up, he gingerly rubbed his savagely throbbing head. All these thoughts and questions that were plaguing him…were so depressing. And though he was still injured, it wasn't the throbbing agony that it had been. He needed to get out and clear his head so he could think straight and come to a rational decision about these new possibilities and the repercussions of whatever decision he'd make.

Carefully climbing out of the hospital bed, Akira turned again to study the sleeping face of the blonde. He knew from past experience that she was likely going to regret falling asleep in that position, but perhaps he could at least alleviate some of the stiffness she was going to feel later? It was a staggeringly slow process for Akira to maneuver the young Representative out of her chair and into his bed without waking her or causing his injuries any unnecessary pain.

After tucking the sheets over her, Akira silently left the infirmary and the two sleeping blondes within to their dreams. With nothing else to do, he let his feet carry him where they would as his consciousness shifted back to his earlier internal debate.

Whether it was by muscle memory, desire, or chance, Akira found himself standing in the large mobile suit hangar of the _Archangel_, looking up mournfully at the remains of _his_ Gundam.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**7:43am**

Cagalli ran down the halls, a large frown on her lips as she reached the elevator. '_I swear I'm going to strap him down to the bed if he's going to keep on doing this!_' she mentally ranted to herself. Why was it that Kira seemed completely unable to remain in one place for more than a few hours? Perhaps it was a habit he'd picked up from all the fighting he'd been doing over the past few months. If that was the case, Cagalli was going to break him of it if it was the last thing she ever did!

It was the thought of all the battles that he'd been involved in that was now guiding Cagalli through the warship. Truly, there was only one place that he could possibly be at this time in the morning, if he had even shed of Kira Yamato left inside him. That was why Cagalli was now riding the elevator down to the mobile suit hangar.

When the doors opened, Cagalli paused to catch her breath as she surveyed the chamber. Like usual, the hangar was bustling with the early-risers of the mechanics, engineers, and several pilots who tending to the duties of maintaining the Orb Murasames.

'_If I was Kira, where would I be?_' she asked herself as she marched imperiously into the hangar, shifting her gaze from one Murasame to the next, searching for her brother.

"Good morning, Lady Cagalli!" someone called out over the din of the activity, attracting everyone's attention momentarily.

"Morning, everyone," she answered loudly.

"Something we can assist you with, Mi'lady?" one of the closer pilots asked as he approached her, bowing his head slightly in respect.

"Has anyone seen Kira come in here lately?" she asked, still continuing her visual search. Inexplicably, her gaze landed upon the burned and warped husk of the Neo Freedom as she received her answer.

"Iyadomi came down earlier," the pilot stated as he gestured towards her brother's machine. "I think he's still over by that thing."

"I see, thank you," she responded, moving towards the ruined Gundam.

The closer she drew towards it, the more severe its true damage became apparent to her. Reduced to less than a third of its original bulk, the Neo Freedom made for a sad sight as it lay upon its backside on the hangar floor. There was not a single portion of its surface armor that wasn't charred, scratched, warped, or melted in an unnatural angle. The blast damage from the beams it had taken were jagged and looked like they would've been terribly painful wounds had they been inflicted upon an actual person.

Just as she was less than a few meters away, a brown-blond haired head rose into view from the interior of the nuclear powerplant vents upon the chest of the Freedom. It didn't stay visible long, just enough for the person to fling an armful of fired circuit boards, shattered ion pumps, and other unidentifiable scraps of metal off to the side before plunging back inside.

"Kira!" she called out. "Hey, Kira!"

Popping back out after only a second, brown-blond turned to her. "Good morning, Miss Cagalli. What can I do for you?"

"What are you doing here?" Cagalli demanded as she gazed forlornly over the wreck. "You should be in the infirmary resting! Besides, the Freedom's pretty much been destroyed."

"I'm gonna fix it," Kira stated. Though his voice didn't waver, there was a clear glimmer of remorse and _need_ in his gaze as he looked upon the corpse of his beloved Gundam.

"Fix it? How're you gonna fix this?" Cagalli gawked as her gaze traced the wreck once again. Was he serious?!

"With grit, spit, and a _whole_ _lot_ of duct tape," Kira answered with a perfectly straight face. "I could probably have it up and running in about six to nine months."

"Sixty-nine months eh?" Cagalli asked, grinning slightly. She hadn't misunderstood, but this was just too funny to pass up. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Maybe you should just wait for us to make you a new one."

Scowling at Cagalli's apparent misunderstanding, Kira climbed out of the Neo Freedom and carefully descended towards the floor. "No, six _to_ nine months and maybe even sooner if I could…_borrow_ a few parts from those Murasames."

"Like I said," Cagalli repeated. "Just wait for us to make a new one. It should be ready in about three to four weeks."

A small smirk crossed Kira's face, warning Cagalli just a second beforehand, as he said, "Thirty-four weeks? I think I'll stick with my Gundam, but thanks anyway."

Cagalli couldn't help pouting slightly as she realized he'd won this round. "Why aren't you in the infirmary, recovering like normal people would be when they get shot down? _Three times_, no less!"

"Hey now!" Kira barked, looking horribly offended. "I resent that! It was a tie with the Impulse, I'd ejected from the Skygrasper because the GOUF hadn't expected such an attack, and the Neo Freedom's reactor was having a few _issues_ what with being nearly driven to the point of meltdown and all!"

"In other words, you were shot down each time," Cagalli pointed out, her superior smirk growing slightly. "Now you get back to the infirmary or I swear I will exercise my authority as Chief Representative to make sure you are forcefully restrained and secured to that bed until you've properly recovered!"

"Aw, but you're forgetting one very important thing, Mi'lady," Kira said, a cocky sneer forming broadly on his face. "I'm the Gundam pilot: _Akira Iyadomi_."

Just as the last time he'd said that line, Akira received a slap to the cheek. "I may have deserved that," he muttered more to himself than the blonde.

"Come on, you," Cagalli ordered, grabbing a hold of his right ear and imperiously strutted back towards the elevator, Akira awkwardly following at her side, slightly doubled over from the angle which she was pulling him from. She paid his cries of pain and for mercy no mind as she continued speaking to her brother. "If you're not willing to return to the infirmary right now, then you're at least going to have breakfast with me while you tell me _exactly_ what you've been doing these past two years. And after that, I don't care if we have to drag you back in handcuffs and at gunpoint; you're going back to the infirmary, where you'll _stay_ until you've recovered. You got that, mister?"

"Gah! That hurts! Let go! Ugh! Please! Let g-Ow! Stop it!"

Akira's cries of agony echoed through the hangar, even long after they'd left, earning more than a few grins and sympathetic winces from the other men and women in the hangar who'd heard them. Though quite a few of them did remark about how Miss Cagalli seemed to be quite a bit livelier now than she had been in the past few years.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**January 27, 74 CE  
****Mathilde Colony  
****10:30am**

The colony seemed to give off a weird combination of foreboding doom and a warm, homey environment. The first feeling came from the surprising amount of wreckage that surrounded the small asteroid, a grave of unknown numbers of destroyed ships and mobile suits. However, once they'd bypassed the debris field and the space mines that had been hidden within the debris and actually landed on the space rock, they found themselves observing the movements the occupants within. Rather than big, brawny, and vicious-appearing monsters of men, the people living within the colony seemed almost normal. There were even a small number of children with them!

Some of them, despite being professional soldiers who obeyed every command given to them, just couldn't help but ask: was this the right colony? If it was the wrong colony, this would be a truly…embarrassing beginning to the newly-christened Operation Harvest Reapers.

Following the layout of the colony, which had been provided by a former spy, the soldiers silently moved towards their designated targets. They didn't use their radios, relying on hand signals and body language, to convey messages on the possibility that the pirates would detect them.

It was almost time for the attack to begin.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**Firing Range, near the Factory District**

Target range: 200 meters

Wind speed: 0 km/h

Wind direction: none

Zero G drift: none

Sight the target. Line up the shot. Clear the mind. Pull the trigger. BANG!

Henry lowered his rifle and recalled the target. It moved along the electric track that was bringing it closer. But even before the mobile suit commander yanked the paper target off its clip, he knew that his shot had been off his mark. He missed by a full two inches and under such easy conditions as well.

'_What is wrong with me?_' He asked angrily in his head. But it was rhetorical question; he knew was wrong with him. His mind wasn't clear, which was what he came here to do. But no matter how many times he shot his rifle, he just couldn't get into the sniper's mindset. And he knew what was keeping him from it.

It was guilt. Guilt that he was living peacefully up here on the Mathilde colony with the rest of the crew of the _Early Harvest_ and their families. Guilt for not having been down there on Earth when the Destroy was unleashed on western Eurasia. Guilt for having left the military in the first place and thus not being there when his home was attacked.

Henry was not like the other Coordinators of his generation who lived on the Mathilde colony. They had all been born and raised in the PLANTs. He, however, had been one of the few Coordinators to be born on Earth. Specifically he had been born in the Eurasian Federation, in a small town just outside of Berlin.

As a Coordinator on Earth, he had been lucky. The people of his hometown knew what he was, but to them he was just another kid. It was the kind of town where something needed to happen that actually put someone in the hospital to get the people riled up.

It was a good place to grow up, and Henry loved it and Eurasia. Because of that when he left school, he joined the military.

_**Flashback**_

_Henry stepped off the bus with the rest of the new recruits. They had come to the military base where they were all assigned to do their basic training. For the next year, this place would be their home._

"_Fall in line, maggots!"_

_And those were the first words ever spoken to him, well more at his general direction, by the man he would come to known as Serge. The men and women who had arrived on the bus immediately headed in the direction of the man who would be in charge of their lives for the next several months. Once they had the Sergeant, who was very tall, broad, and more than a little intimidating, took the time to exaggeratingly inspect each and every one of them, constantly shaking his head and making sounds of disappointment. At the end of the line, he immediately turned on his heel._

"_You lot are __**without**__ a __**doubt**__ the sorriest lot of trainees that I have had the displeasure of laying my eyes on!" He shouted as he walked slowly back down the line. "I'd like nothing better than to wash all of you out and get back to training real soldiers. However I am obligated to at least attempt to take you stringy little worms and try to turn you into the physical and mental pinnacle of humanity. In order to do so, you will all undergo a rigorous schedule of physical and psychological training, all of which have been designed to train you to undertake physically and mentally demanding tasks with utmost precision while under severe stress." At that moment he stopped walking and turned to face the group, coincidentally right in front of Henry, at which point he got close and personal. "Do you have a problem with __**that**__!?"_

"_Sir! No Sir!_

"_Good! You will go to the barracks, pick a bunk and store your stuff. After that report to the barber to get your head shaved. You will then eat dinner and after that you had better get some shut eye because we're starting bright and early tomorrow at 0500. Meaning you had better be up and ready before then." The Sergeant stopped there and was silent for a second and looked over the new cadets. "Well!? Did I stutter!? Move your butts, maggots! Move! Move! Move!"_

_**Flashback End**_

Serge had not been kidding about that rigorous schedule. Calisthenics, bi-weekly hikes, surprise inspections in the middle of the night, long classes on the equipment used by the military, their use, and maintenance. All of it accompanied with the rather abusive teaching style of the Sergeant.

Not physical abuse of course. Rather he was rather verbal in his disapproval of the recruits' performance, the majority of it seeming to be directed to those who were actually better at the training, namely Henry.

Being a Coordinator and a man worked hard to bring out his potential Henry was the fastest, strongest, and most proficient of them all, quickly outshining older recruits and actual soldiers. Yet Serge constantly berated him over the tiniest detail. If he was so much as a millimeter out of step, if there was a speck of dirt on his dress uniform, Serge would notice it and point it out in the loudest, most abusive way he could.

However despite early assumptions the old soldier did not have anything against Henry or Coordinators. In fact these days he could hardly believe that despite his supposedly superior intelligence he had completely failed to see the subtle lesson the Sergeant was administering.

The lesson was simple. Humans are naturally competitive against one another. Individuals compete against one another, seeking to hone their skills and increase their natural abilities. This leads to confrontation as the best way to sharpen a skill is to pit it against another of equal level. This is naturally a good thing, but there are occasions when competition is done in a high pressure environment where the winner's prize is clearly seen by all and the loser gets nothing or possibly a punishment. In such a situation resentment and hate can develop between the competitors, especially when one stands above the rest clearly outshining the competition again and again.

What's the best way to prevent those dark feelings from developing? Simple, give the people a common enemy. When there is a common foe that must be defeated people will ban and work together. Then those who are gifted are praised and admired as their fellows strive to be like them.

That was the lesson. Since Henry was so much better than his fellow recruits, doing difficult tasks so easily, he could have been praised and held as the standard for what they all should try to be. And that would have instilled resentment in the others probably made worse by the fact that he was a Coordinator, thus creating a gulf that would likely never be bridged and ultimately ruin any of the unit's cohesive efforts. Instead he was targeted for negative responses the most despite being the best, thus everyone else saw him as one of their own. A fellow recruit who was going to show their devil of a drill sergeant that he was indeed a true soldier. That despite being a Coordinator, he was just one of the guys.

He was respected by them for putting up with the abuse and not quitting. And despite some early hesitation from the others because of what he was, Henry had actually come to be friends with other recruits on base and not just those that he trained with.

The Serge did eventually lighten up, though not before a couple of voodoo dolls of him were found boiling in a kitchen pot. But he did ease up and eventually start complimenting the recruits and saying that they just might make it yet. It was around that time that everyone started drifting towards a combat specialty, and Henry, despite expectations that he would be a fighter pilot, found himself attracted to the specialty of Serge. Using a sniper rifle.

_**Flashback**_

_**BANG!!!**_

_Henry looked up from his rifle's scope, wishing to see the actual distance to the target from beneath the cover of the various foliage camouflage. He had already seen that he hit his target precisely where he wanted, and at best only off by a centimeter or two._

_Serge had also seen the shot through his binoculars. "Not bad Siemer. But not good enough. Do it again."_

_Normally Henry wasn't one to question orders, but he had already repeated this maneuver a dozen times and Serge had said the same thing each time, and curiosity had gotten the best of him. So he asked what it was the sergeant was waiting for._

_Henry expected the answer to be something along the lines of Serge yelling at him to not question orders and do the maneuver right this second or else get latrine scrubbing duty again. However what he got was, "I'm waiting for you to start feeling the shots. All you're doing is the calculations you were taught which are probably easy for your Coordinator brain. However you have yet to reach the point where you stop calculating the trajectory of your shot and start feeling it. The ability to feel out that perfect alignment and wait for the perfect moment to pull the trigger. That is the difference between a good sniper and a great sniper. Now do it again and keep going until I tell you to stop or else I'll put you on latrine scrubbing duty!"_

_**Flashback End**_

And Henry did shoot again. He kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting and eventually, without even noticing, the conscious calculations of wind direction and speed, angle, and other various factors were being replaced into an instinctive knowledge that gathered the variables and figured out how they interacted within less than a breath's amount of time.

By the time training was complete Henry had become a combat sniper specialist. And because of his high marks in the theoretical combat and tactical classes he had quickly become a noncommissioned officer. For years he served proudly in the military, managing to work his way up to a regular officer rank.

Then tensions began to rise between Earth and the PLANTs, leading to the formation of the Earth Alliance. The formation of the new alliance came with a restructuring of the military. This left Henry with the rank of First Lieutenant.

All too soon after that came the tragedy of Junius 7 and the beginning of the Bloody Valentine War.

Did Henry have difficulty fighting in a war on the side against his own people? No, because Henry believed that it wasn't genetics that determined who your people were. To him, his people were those whom he had lived with and had accepted him. Though the fact that he could almost be considered a separate species from everyone else around and was fighting against those who were genetically like him did make the issue a bit muddy at times.

That was probably what started the mutterings. The fact that he was a Coordinator was hardly an everyday topic of discussion, but it also wasn't something that was being kept secret. And so people started to talk, wondering why Henry fought with the Earth Alliance, why he went against other Coordinators, and other such things. And some of the more Blue Cosmos-minded people would often state the possibility that he was a spy who only pretended to be loyal to the EF and other such nonsense.

Henry ignored it all as best he could for he knew that he didn't have to explain himself to anyone, though it did sadden him to hear his fellow countrymen question him because of circumstances he couldn't control. So he kept on doing his duty, fighting in both the East Asian and African fronts, usually as a sniper who tripled as a lookout and operations field commander, and led a number of successful missions. With his rifle he had killed over thirty enemies, including at least a dozen high ranking officers who were mission targets.

But as the months wore on and the Earth forces suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of ZAFT, the things for Henry starting getting worse. While his sniping missions and commando raids were successful, they had little overall impact on the enemy except to disrupt their chain of command and supply lines as they had to bring in new personnel and material to replace that which was lost. And often with the new personnel came an increased mobile suit presence, against which snipers and commandos could do very little damage. And at the same time, ZAFT and Coordinator were beginning to become synonymous, which led to an increase in the mutterings and rumors about him truly being loyal to OMNI Enforcer.

People would begin to angrily whisper about Henry, supposedly out of his hearing range, and question why he was wasting his time with that sniper rifle instead of doing something more useful like climbing into the cockpit of a captured mobile suit and using it against ZAFT. The possibility wasn't that farfetched as there were several mercenary groups that made use of mobile suits and were willing to be hired out by the Earth Alliance to perform a mission or two. Then there was the Coordinator ace that fought for the Earth Alliance in a white GINN, Jean Carry or the "Glittering Star J" as he was called.

Despite some rumors that Henry was afraid to move out of the shadows and fight in a way that makes a difference he had thought of doing what others had suggested. But there was a reason he held back from doing so and it was because he was afraid. But not of death, or at least not his own death. He was afraid of the deaths of others, the people he would fight against. There was something that he had discovered as a sniper. The way you kill a person has an effect on your soul, or at least his soul.

To this day, he could recall every detail he ever saw about each and every one of the people he killed with his sniper rifle. He could remember the names of each specified target. But most importantly he could remember their faces as the bullet strikes their chest and pierces their heart and they breathe their last breath.

Perhaps it was the realization that he, their killer, would be one of the last people to ever see that person alive. Perhaps it was the way he could kill them safely from a distance without giving them a chance to fight back. For whatever reason it was, Henry had determined that killing a fellow human being was, more often than it should be, an evil. But a necessary one during a war to defend your home and your people. That was why he had never fought in a mobile suit, because he was afraid that if he could no longer see the face of those whose lives he took, if he could not be the witness for their final moments on this plane of existence, that there was a possibility that killing would become 'easy' and carried out without remorse.

But that didn't stop him from hurting from hearing his comrade's whisper about him in such ways. Especially when he saw that one of the people whispering behind his back was a buddy of his from basic training. One of the guys who he had united with and stood against Serge with. They both knew what the other was capable of almost as well as they knew themselves, and both knew what the other believed in and how far he would go to carry out those beliefs. Yet here was that buddy questioning both Henry's courage and his willingness to protect the lives of his comrade's because of his choice to stay as a sniper in the shadows.

That was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Before Henry knew it, he was volunteering to use his abilities as a Coordinator to pilot a mobile suit for the Eurasian Federation forces.

Henry had expected to receive a captured GINN or possibly a DINN, so he was surprised to learn that he would be going into space to be part of the Eurasian Federation's mobile suit development program, a program developed in response to the Atlantic Federation's mobile suit program that was just reaching mass production.

The location of the program was Artemis base, the formerly impenetrable base, where Henry received the advanced CAT1-X 3/3 Hyperion Unit 3. He was surprised again to learn that the individual assigned to Unit 1 was also a Coordinator, albeit a rather angry and dissociative person.

Artemis base's commander, Garcia seemed like a nice enough fellow, if a little leery around him and Canard. Later he learned through scuttlebutt that Garcia had been humiliated badly and injured slightly because of a Coordinator who had piloted an Alliance mobile suit that came though here seeking refuge from ZAFT. Artemis had almost been lost and Garcia had almost lost his command because of that incident. Supposedly the fact that the development program was stationed at Artemis was meant to both increase base defenses and test to see Garcia should remain in command.

The training began and things were going well, although Henry wished that he could swap out the mobile suit's beam sub-machine gun for a sniper rifle, but there was nothing he could do about that. Despite not having his weapon of choice Henry scored highly on the simulation runs and continually bested the pilot of Unit 2. However he never once defeated Canard Pars who piloted Unit 1, although it was close a few times.

That's when things began taking a turn for the worse again. It began when Garcia had become obsessed with capturing a ZAFT mobile suit that was equipped with an N-Jammer Canceller. Canard had been the one ordered to accomplish the mission, and he had done so successfully. However he didn't do it fast enough, for when Garcia reported the success in he was told that the Atlantic Federation and Eurasian Federation would be cooperating with each other on future mobile suit R&D, that the development program under Garcia's command would be disbanded, and the Atlantic Federation already had N-Jammer Canceller technology. So all of Garcia's efforts to retrieve a unit to redeem himself in HQ's eyes had been futile.

Garcia snapped, he ordered Canard arrested, the charges never being specified. But it went deeper than that. Henry happened to be nearby Garcia's office at the time and happened to overhear (was eavesdropping). Not only was Garcia intent on throwing Canard in the brig and hopefully executing him for something but he also started rambling how all Coordinators were liars, thieves, tricksters, out to get him, were going to discredit him, and other paranoid ramblings, and saying how he would get rid of any Coordinator that he crossed paths with. At about that time, the man stopped rambling, though was still talking out loud, and had remembered that there was another Coordinator on base. Paranoid that Henry was also out to get him, Garcia set up a plan. Once Canard was arrested, he would falsify some documents to make it seem that both Canard and Henry were attempting to sell military secrets to ZAFT, a crime for which he could get them executed.

Henry could hardly believe his ears, but it was true. And if he did nothing, he would be killed. Unfortunately, his list of options was woefully short. He couldn't get in contact with HQ, at least not on his own. He could try seeking help from other people here on Artemis, but the majority of the staff and soldiers were probably loyal to Garcia, and with the rising anti-Coordinator sentiments they probably wouldn't help him even if they weren't loyal.

If he wanted to keep living his best bet was to steal a shuttle and make a run for it. So that was the course of action he decided to take. He quickly made his way to a shuttle bay where he could grab one of the long range models, trying to improvise a plan on his way there. Sadly, the best he could come up with was to simply walk calmly to a shuttle as if he was supposed to and if anyone tried to stop him, shoot them in a non-lethal location and run.

However it seemed fortune smiled upon him as he managed to get to the shuttle bay without incident, and slipped aboard an empty shuttle. There wasn't any time to do a lot of preflight checks so he did the absolute basics before powering up the shuttles engines. That got the attention of the maintenance crews and guards but by then it was too late. He luck continued for at about the same time the _Oltugia_ was flying as fast as it could out of the hangar, drawing the attention of Artemis's defenses. Both ships managed to get beyond the Umbrella shield before it could be opened.

As the shuttle flew out into space beyond the reach of Artemis, Henry was struck by waves of duel emotions. On the one hand, he was alive and for that he was glad. But on the other, what he had just done guaranteed that he would be labeled a traitor who could never hope to go back to his beloved home again.

Thus a new quandary developed. What should he do now? He couldn't go to a country that was Earth Alliance territory, which now was essentially the entire Earth. And he wouldn't feel entirely right going to the PLANTs, considering all he had done in the fight _against_ ZAFT. Yet, given his options, that was probably the best and closest place he could go.

Alas, it was not quite close enough. Only a few hours into the journey, the ship's computer warned of that the fuel level was dangerously low and that to conserve power the engines and non-essential systems would be temporarily shut down. And so there he was sitting in a darkened shuttle, no food, no water, and a distress beacon calling everyone to his position. With the way his luck was going, he had surmised, it would be pirates that picked up his signal first.

Henry was right. After nearly a day of drifting, it _was_ pirates that picked up his signal. The _Early Harvest_ pirates. The ship had detected the distress beacon and Captain Brimfield had decided to investigate. More importantly, Brimfield was willing to let Henry to come aboard his ship and meet with him. When the two were in the privacy of Brimfield's ship office, Henry explained to the officer why it was he was alone on a shuttle with no emergency provisions. Henry then offered to try and buy passage to a colony, preferably the PLANTs but even the abandoned Mendel colonies would do. And if he couldn't buy passage, he tried to at least buy the needed fuel.

Brimfield quickly poked a hole in that idea by saying that Henry had no form of compensation except to use the shuttle itself as a bargaining chip, which wasn't the best idea. Instead, he set up a counter offer. Henry had been in the military and had even managed to get some training with a mobile suit, and Brimfield could always use another good hand with a mobile suit for salvage and 'other' operations. So Brimfield offered to take Henry to their home base where he could be fed and sheltered. In exchange, Henry could work as a mobile suit pilot, along with doing a few extra chores on the side.

Henry was hesitant about the offer. He didn't like the idea of piracy, but most pirates would have killed him and taken the shuttle for their own already. And, from his point of view, even going to the PLANTs wasn't all that much better of an alternative. So he agreed, however he made it clear that he was uncomfortable with the idea of participating in a pirate raid.

Brimfield said that was fine, and that hopefully Henry would change his mind after seeing how they conducted their business.

Years had gone by since that day and although Henry had come to see the Mathilde colony as home and the crew of the _Early Harvest_ his people, he still couldn't help but miss his old home and his old life.

And then the news about the Destroy came within reach of his ears. Several Eurasian cities burned to the ground, thousands of civilians dead, and all at the hands of a single machine. Berlin, just a stone's throw from his home town, had nearly met a similar fate as Junius 7, and Henry wondered if this was how survivors of that tragedy felt, knowing that so many people died, some who could have been his friends and family growing up.

His homeland had burned and he had not been there.

Shaking his head, Henry quietly growled to himself. He was annoyed with himself for slipping back into memories that he hadn't really wanted to visit again because of the complex emotions attached to them. Grabbed his rifle again, he quickly set up the target. He needed to clear his mind, and falling back into his sniper's mind set was always a comforting experience for him.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Approaching the Factory District**

If there was one thing that could ever be said about the demon that lived in his skin, it was that the higher the danger level, the more that Charley enjoyed doing it. And now, as he was rocketing through the old colony interior assembly shaft on a jet-powered sled, the only thing that was going through his head was sheer ecstasy as he screamed out a deafening cry of joy that only a young child could possibly generate.

Maneuvering the high-speed jet-sled proved to be tricky at best, especially when taking into account that he was traveling at nearly one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour and the slightest bump had the potential to send it flying through the air in the extremely low gravity of the asteroid. Thankfully the old colony assembly line was long and spacious enough with no real obstacles to be all _that_ hazardous for the Extended Coordinator. It wasn't fighting and murder, but it was still enough to give Charley a powerful adrenaline rush that he'd only ever experienced on the battlefield. Laughing hysterically as he approached the factory district, he braced himself for what was to come.

Blasting out of the open entrance like a bat out of hell, Charley let out a loud cheer. As he was shooting across the floor, he could feel the gazes of numerous engineers and personnel watching his progress as he went rocketing towards the end of the factory level and the large open elevator shaft used to lower large construction pieces to the deeper or higher levels of the district for processing.

Grinning like a madman, Charley quickly slapped on the brakes and cut off the jet engines. Of course, with his accumulated momentum, he was still flying towards the elevator shaft. Standing up on the sled, he snatched up a rope and hook and impatiently waited as the end of the shaft drew closer. Timing his throw perfectly, the hook snagged on the railing as he and the sled went flying out into open air. With a mighty jerk, the rope pulled taunt against his safety harness…and promptly snapped from the sheer stress.

Falling at a slightly different angle than the sled, Charley's grin didn't falter in the least as he fell towards the lower levels of the factory. Where the sled crashed into the level immediately below the top floor, Charley landed in a tumbling heap on the third level down, crashing into a random engineer before he finally came to a halt some hundred meters away.

Bouncing to his feet, Charley let out loud, almost maniacal, laughter. That was the best! He needed to do it again!

"Goldie, what do you think you're doing?!" a familiar voice demanded loudly from the top level. Standing imperiously next the railing with her arms crossed demandingly, Professor K glared down at the bipolar pilot.

"Hey, Lady _K_-O!" Charley called out. "Your rocket-boggan works like a charm! I wanna keep it!!"

"Charley, get _Goldie_ out here right _this instant!_" K ordered, not the least bit amused.

"Goldie has currently stepped out of the office at this time," Charley answered, leering widely. "Please leave a message with the receptionist and he'll be sure to get back to you at a later date!"

Turning to walk away, Charley spotted the engineer he'd crashed into as he was tumbling still laying on the ground. The man was stumbling badly as he attempted to climb back to his feet, while muttering quietly about the 'pretty stars' circling his head. "Hey, what's with _you?_ _I'm_ the one who crashed it, _dumbass!_"

The spectacle that was also known as Charley drew mostly a series of annoyed headshakes and sighs of resignation from the observers. But some of the ones who were hidden in the shadows of the factory couldn't help but chuckle silently as they watched scene from a distance. Hurriedly, they refocused their attentions and resumed their mission.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Residential District**

Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen was in his quarters going through a set of drills as he punched and kicked in the air. He wasn't an expert martial artist, but he liked to think he was adequately skilled and able to hold his own against the best. Admittedly, he hadn't practiced as often as he should but he was by no means rusty. Though today was one of his off days; just not able to focus or concentrate no matter how hard he tried.

He just took a deep breath as he worked on the next set. He wanted to improve his skills now that he was back in a mobile suit. It was his way to incorporate martial arts when piloting a mobile suit, which is why his machines typically had a large number of kicks and punches. It probably seemed foolish in the eyes of most people. After all, with beam rifles, beam sabers and all sorts of creative weaponry for mobile suits these days, the odds of someone being able to get close to _punch _or _kick _seemed laughable.

But that was exactly why he did it. Because it gave him a surprise and unexpected advantage, a quick kick, even if it missed, was often enough to disorient an enemy or move a protecting shield out of the way, leaving the cockpit vulnerable. And with a Gundam like the Honor, which required the pilot to be a close combat specialist, it fit perfectly with his martial arts.

A sad smile appeared on his face. He could remember trying to teach his way of thinking to… he shook his head, not wanting to think about it. The young man most certainly hated his guts by now and that was not something he wished to dwell on.

After a few more minutes, it became apparent that it was futile to try and train today. He was just too restless, too uneasy. He blew out his nose as he walked to the sink and splashed his face, as if that would whittle away his thoughts. Dalen grabbed a towel and wiped his face before walking out of his quarters.

That's what he did when he found himself restless, unable to concentrate or focus. He just walked around the colony, no real destination in mind. It was a way to trick his mind and get him out of his thoughts as well as try and relax.

"_YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!_" echoed through the colony shafts.

Dalen felt the urge to both roll his eyes and give a smirk. Goldie (or was it Charley? He could never keep it straight…) was doing something insane and reckless again. Part of him was a bit envious of the guy to just be able to do what he wanted without a care in the world. He had no idea what Henry was doing. Not that he disliked the guy, but Henry just liked to keep to himself. At least… that was the impression Dalen got from him. Maybe that was because he didn't know much about the guy. He was an excellent pilot, tactician and marksman but beyond that, he knew nothing about his fellow Gundam pilot. He gave a mental shrug, figuring he was hardly the one to say such things of his fellow pirate. He didn't exactly go around sharing his past either, so he could hardly fault anyone else for doing the same.

At that, he gave to a stop just outside the entry way to the port, looking out of one of the colony windows into the depths of space, in the general direction of the _Heaven's Fortune_. After the surviving Blood Fins had been placed in the _Early Harvest_'s brig, that's the place Brimfield had dropped the lot of them off at. With Commander Sansui dead, their fleet decimated and mobile suits destroyed, the remaining few left were no threat whatsoever, so Brimfield had transported the remaining Blood Fins to the pirate space station and let them go on their way.

Though not before informing the Blood Fins that if any of them tried attacking the _Early Harvest_ crew again, they would get no leniency. Period.

That's when the colony shook.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

Henry's thoughts were interrupted as the room shook, sound and shock waves from explosions being carried through the walls.

'_What is going on!?_' He thought as he grabbed his various guns and pushed himself to the door in the low gravity room. Getting out into the corridor Henry didn't see anyone who may know what was happening. Not surprising considering that the shooting range, like a number of other special use rooms, was an addition made by the _Early Harvest_ personal when they moved into the colony. Since a gun range isn't that useful unless you have a considerable amount of space, space that wasn't available in the asteroid facility, the Early Harvest engineers had created the space by hauling a smaller asteroid and fusing it to the colony. It was a very out of the way spot that no one went near unless they had a reason.

Unfortunately it was also a fair distance from the port where the EHG-X1 Courage currently was.

Henry sped down the corridor that led to the closest major facility, the factory where he could get a briefing on the situation. He quickened his pace as several more tremors that were undoubtedly caused by explosions shook the asteroid. '_Damn it! Is this an attack!?_'

That was a logical assumption, and one that was about to be proven correct. The sound of shooting reached his ears. In response Henry stopped, pulled out his pistol, and took up a low profile position near the wall. Barely a second later had a guy in an _Early Harvest_ engineer's uniform come barreling around the corner in a blind panic, narrowly avoiding a brief spurt of gunfire.

The engineer saw Henry who was just beginning to mouth the words "Get Down!" Henry didn't know if the guy actually understood what he was saying or simply panicked at the sight of another gun but he did exactly that and just in time as a pair of individuals holding sub-machine guns came around the corner in pursuit of the engineer. Henry barely registered the fact that they were wearing ZAFT space suits as he unloaded his clip into the pair.

It was over in seconds and by the end the two soldiers were dead, a fact that Henry double-checked. When he was done and had reloaded his gun, Henry turned to the engineer who had taken cover behind him. "What happened?"

"Sir, it's a ZAFT raid. Soldiers got into the factory, their shooting at everyone in EH colors."

"A ZAFT raid? Why didn't the alarm sound?"

"I don't know sir. I was just coming off my shift when the first explosion happened. I went back to the factory to see if an accident happened and by the time I got there everyone else was running away, closing the doors behind them, with ZAFT soldiers shooting at them. I don't know who all escaped, but not everyone."

'_Damn it,_' thought Henry, '_this is bad. They've cut us off from our new Hizacks. And if ZAFT could attack the factory without raising the alarm then they most likely also hit the port. However there should be some of our pilots in the port, possibly even Dalen and Goldie. My priority is to remove all hostiles in the factory and secure the area._' At that moment Henry heard some scuffling coming from within the ceiling. He looked up and wondered for a second what it was, then it hit him. The maintenance ducts.

The battle had only just begun, and already it seemed the odds were against them!

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) Well, this chapter is finally out. And look at that! The Mathilde attack is _**FINALLY**_ commencing! Originally, I wanted to post the entire attack in one chapter, but I decided that this would serve as a good introduction scene to the coming chapter. Thouch, technically I _still_ have finished it, I hope this'll be a good enough kick in the balls to get my juices flowing again. And, as you have probably noticed, **animefan29** and **FictionReader98** are having bigger roles in writing this chapter than the previous _Early Harvest_ one. Let's hope we can continue the good thing we've got so far.

And just in case you have missed my posted warning on my profile, I have recently been hired full-time at Ashley Furniture and their hours are simply terrible. They leave me practically exhausted and no inspiration to write during the week. So my next coming chapters will likely be even fewer and farther between (and like posted on weekends).

One final note, if you haven't already voted there's a new poll up on my profile in regards to (A)Kira's next Gundam. Please vote, I would like see what you personally hope to see his next machine possessing in terms of abilities and weaponry.


	25. A Crippling Loss

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance, FictionReader98, & animefan29  
_Phase 25: A Crippling Loss_

**January 27, 74 CE  
****Mathilde Colony  
****10:45am**

"What the…" Dalen started before the colony shook again making him fall flat on his butt. He quickly got up and looked out the window. A number of missiles were flying through space and striking the colony in various places, including the defense systems as he saw several weapon implements blow apart like eggshells. Each missile resulted in the colony shaking slightly more violently from the attacks.

Finally, the alarm began ringing but Dalen and many of the _Early Harvest_ personnel were already running to their battle stations. The Lieutenant quickly ran down the hall followed by a quick jerk left into the hangar where people were running around frantically.

"What the blazes is going on!?" one of the mechanics shouted as several others rushed towards the docked mobile suits.

"I was hoping _you'd_ know!" Dalen shouted back, already halfway up to the Honor as the asteroid shook once more. "Lockdown the hangar and get those mobile suits going!" he added as he practically threw himself in the cockpit and began the power-up sequence.

The machine hummed to life immediately as the systems snapped on. The Coordinator took a glance to the sides and saw that the Courage and Loyalty were as still as statues. So neither Henry nor Goldie was here apparently.

He didn't gave it much thought as he had the Honor take it's beam rifle in its right hand and dashed off towards the port exit… just in time to see another barrage of missiles heading right towards the port itself!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**Between the Firing Range and Factory District**

Grabbing his rifle he slammed the butt against the ceiling, popping open the hatch. "Come on," he said to the hapless engineer.

Going into the maintenance ducts turned out to the correct choice as six EH crewmembers that had scurried into them to take cover. By luck one of the men was a security officer whose gun was enough to keep ZAFT from following.

Although that was probably because ZAFT was more focused on securing the factory and its mobile suits.

But that was just another bit of luck, especially when he learned that one individual had the presence of mind to enter a general lockdown command into the factory's main computer, which was connected to all machines for operation and diagnostic purposes. That included the mobile suits.

It wouldn't stop ZAFT, but it would stall them and keep them in one place long enough for the plan forming in Henry's head to work.

The first thing Henry did was go back to the two ZAFT soldiers he had killed and took their grenades, rifles, pistols, and knives. Once the gear was gathered and distributed amongst the techs he outlined the plan over an impromptu map.

"Three of you will take the grenades to these access points," he said pointed to the entrances to service corridors that led to the manufacturing areas. "You'll use all of the hornets' nest and tear gas grenades and one frag grenade. If their wearing their helmets the tear gas won't do much beyond blinding them, but that should be enough. The hornets' nest will serve as the main distraction as it was designed for use in for enclosed spaces and the frag should take a few out. Then the rest of us will open the door for the main entrance where we'll use the guns to finish them. This should eliminate all hostiles with minimal damage to the factory hanger. Any questions?" There were none. "Alright synchronize your watches and get into position."

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Spaceport District**

By pure reflex, Dalen felt himself squeezing the trigger, unleashing his rifle and CIWS shots. His shots hit home, hitting several of the missiles and causing them to explode. And if he was half the pilot he should have been, he would have been able to shoot down all of the missiles.

But, unfortunately, he wasn't. About a third of the missiles were missed and they continued on, slamming into the entrance to the port to seal it off. Three EH mobile suits were caught in the barrage, the shockwaves either destroying them, propelling them into the asteroid or both.

If Dalen hadn't shot the missiles he had, they would had struck home and collapsed the hangar opening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several more weapon placements were blown into the cosmos. Why hadn't they activated?

He liked the probable reasons less and less. This assault was too well coordinated, too precise. First the attack came without warning, despite the sensors, warning systems or mines as a precaution. Their long-range bombardment was systemically destroying their non-active defenses and just now, they nearly collapsed the hangar entrance.

His scanners quickly detected the attacking force. Within the confines of the debris field, he found five ships. Three _Nazca_-class and two _Laurasia_-class, as well as a contingency of mobile suits being launched. These mobile suits consisted of various ZAKU models, which included Warriors, Gunners, Slashes, even a few Blaze ZAKUs and GOUF Igniteds. Thirty in all, causing Dalen to pale slightly.

There was no way _any _pirate group would have _this_ many of the latest models… His scanners picked up IFF signals from both the ships and mobile suits and his blood ran cold in recognition.

ZAFT.

This was no pirate group. It was ZAFT itself. And in force!

_But how!? _He screamed mentally only for an answer to come almost immediately. Someone had sold them out! But who… the Blood Fins? He briefly paused at that as he ignited the Honor's thrusters into the oncoming swarm. Had the surviving Blood Fins gave away the Mathilde's location in revenge? It would make sense… they couldn't do anything and still be getting payback for being defeated.

Dalen's stomach just squirmed at the thought before pushing those thoughts at of his mind as he fired several shots towards the incoming invaders, destroying two. None of that mattered right now, he had a job to do and he—

Apparently, fate wasn't done jerking with him yet because out of each of the _Nazca_-class, a new mobile suit launched from the hangars. The first one was mostly blue and white, with black and red wings on its back. The second one was largely colored in gray with blue and red situated most notably in the chest area, and possessed a large 'shell' on its back with eight spike-like things. The third one was mostly white with a black chest and forearms, along with some yellow around the torso section. Besides the unique coloring, the heavy beam cannon mounted upon its back and a large switchblade folded up alongside its right arm, it was seemingly with no other external accessories. However…

Gundams.

These were _Gundams!_

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**Factory District**

Henry breathed steadily to show an outwardly calm appearance. Truthfully he wasn't calm. He had faith that the plan would work, but it was very easy for things to go horribly wrong especially once the fighting started. The chaos and confusion, the fear of possible death. He hated firefights for those reasons.

What made it worse was the nagging question in the back of his head. '_How did they get lucky enough to know which hangar had the operational mobile suits?_' The factory had four hangars, one for shuttles, one for mobile suits, and the last two mostly being used for storage. '_Knowing where the factory is located is a given, they just need to look at any Mathilde colony plans. And getting Hangar 4 right off the bat could have been just luck. But why didn't they go for all four at once?_'

Giving himself a mental shrug he tossed off those thoughts and focused on the job at hand, for as the commander he had to put up a calm front. And such a façade was having a visible effect on his men, two of whom were using the ZAFT rifles while the third had the two pistols.

He checked his watch and counted down the seconds. 3… 2… 1…

Through the doors Henry heard shouts of surprise, pain, and the sound of the frag grenade going off.

Henry gave the signal and one of his men hit the door control. The double doors slid partway open to reveal the smoke obscured chaos inside. The sniper rifle was already to Henry's shoulder, and he zeroed in on the green chest of a soldier that still stood, barely visible from the smoke. Before a thought could enter his mind, he pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_ The green coat went down, blood staining his coat on his right shoulder, but Henry didn't notice.

The sudden shot sowed more confusion, the smoke making it hard to tell where exactly it had come from. But they learned as the sound of semi-automatics filled the air.

Henry's men kept firing from the cover provided from the partially open doors while he searched for the next target. Several bullets ricocheted off the doors drawing his attention upward to a cat walk where three soldiers were still above the smoke, rifles in hand and trying to get a good shot. They were keeping low, using catwalk as cover from the semi-accurate sub-machineguns.

Henry raised his rifle, centering on the far left.

_BANG!_ Blood spurted from the nasty, and fatal, neck wound! It was an ugly shot, but Henry didn't notice as he turned to the middle one.

_BANG!_ Struck the center of his upper chest, probably broke the sternum.

_BANG!_ That shot struck the final soldier, in the left side of his chest, just a little under and to the left of his heart. At best it was nicked, but the lung should have been popped.

_BANG!_ Henry's eyes widened. He knew that hadn't been one of his shots as a lancing pain seared his side. Bringing his gaze back down, he scanned the dispersing smoke.

'_There!_' It was the man he first hit. The man stood ignoring his shoulder wound, pistol in his left hand which trembled.

Henry zeroed in, centered his target, and pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_ The ZAFT soldier's brain barely even registered as the bullet flew cleanly through his heart.

As the soldier fell Henry's senses alerted to him that the fighting was over. All of the enemy soldiers, ten if his suspicions were right, had been neutralized. Or at least that was the appearance. Slinging his rifle and drawing his pistol he and the others entered the factory hangar.

Quickly they checked the enemy. Henry's estimate had been accurate, the final count with three wounded and seven dead. Not counting the two from earlier of course.

Reverberations through the colony alerted Henry that there was still fighting going on, outside in mobile suits.

"Someone get into the Hizacks to help secure the factory from further invasion! If their pilots come, turn them over!" He called to the others. "We can't have ZAFT trying to infiltrate this location again if they get the opportunity. I'm going to the hangar to get my mobile suit and heading out."

As he was about to leave the moan of one of the wounded soldiers caught his attention. "And someone get these men to a safe location. We may be pirates but that doesn't mean we have to let them die because of carelessness."

With that he left, and never once did it cross his mind that that last shot of his had been perfect.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Outside the Spaceport District**

Dalen began laughing nervously as he looked out his screens for any sign of the Loyalty or the Courage. Nothing. His laughter became swallower to the point where he was ready to start groaning.

New Gundams?! _THREE_ OF THEM!?!? Against him!? New models from the looks of them and that could only mean colossal trouble! Where was Akira when you needed him!? Only he'd be insane enough to go up against odds like this!!

"This is Dalen Bertelsen of the Honor!" He cried over the radio to the colony. "The enemy is ZAFT! I repeat, the enemy is ZAFT!! Five ships and at least 30 mobile suits of various configurations incoming!"

The ZAKUs all broke off, heading to other sections of the colony while one of the ZAFT Gundams took out its heavy beam cannon and fired in his direction. Quickly, the Honor's thrusters activated, propelling him off to the side as the beam missed him.

Unfortunately, it continued on into the hangar where a large explosion was observed a moment later. "Crap, crap, crap, _crap!"_ He chanted under his breath as he took off away from the colony, firing several shots at the Gundam to follow him and away from damaging Mathilde. He fired his beam rifle several times but the Gundams dodged easily then came after him, like vultures to a carcass.

Charming imagery.

"Goldie! Henry! Get your asses out here!! Enemy _Gundams!!!_" He shouted in the comm. to the Mathilde colony all over, hoping everyone heard him and made them aware of the Gundams, Brimfield included. He took out one of his half blade Claymores into the Honor's left hand as the white, yellow and black one as it came straight forward at him, a beam saber in each hand, as the ZAFT machine took a swing at him. With his shield, Dalen easily blocked the attack before swinging his Claymore sword around towards the cockpit in return. Before he could finish his swing, a pair of small boxy sections on the shoulders swung open, revealing a four-barrel Gatling gun in each shoulder.

The former FAITH agent shrieked as a result, having the Honor quickly kick the ZAFT machine, using it as a brace and jumping away, narrowly missing a large barrage of beams firing where he had been mere seconds ago. He tried to attack again but saw the third machine already behind him, firing its beam rifle. Again, Dalen managed to dodge by mere centimeters only to find he had dodged right into a nest of DRAGOONs.

"Not these things!!" He shouted to no one in particular as the DRAGOONs opened fired on him, striking in several spots, including the shoulders, legs and chest area. The Honor went tumbling downward, Dalen working frantically trying to regain control. It was a bit strange, though… those shots were unfocused and did minimal damage, like the pilot wasn't use to using them…

After carefully utilizing his controls, Dalen managed to get the Honor back under control. The second Gundam was coming right at him, its beam Gatling gun things still firing rapidly with little attention on aiming. Dalen raised his left arm and shield as he blocked the shots as best he could as he prepared to return fire… only for the first machine, with a huge ass sword in its hand, appearing right beside him, swinging downward and slicing through his rifle.

"I could use some damn _HELP _out here!!" Dalen called again through the comm. system as he hurled the remains of the rifle at the winged suit before getting struck in the back by the spiky one. Fortunately, the half Claymore on his back took the worst of the shot. Where the hell was Goldie and Henry!? Probably snickering at his predicament.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Spaceport District**

"Go, go, go!" several mechanics shouted as pilots were running towards their docked mobile suits. "Get your asses out there! It's no mere pirate group! It's – "

The head mechanic never got a chance to finish as a bullet lodged itself in his skull and he crumpled into the ground. Several people, undoubtedly a ZAFT team, stormed the hangar determined to prevent more mobile suits from being launched.

"Hit the deck!" one of the EH pirates shouted.

Several mechanics and pilots threw themselves on the ground, using fallen debris as makeshift barricades. They quickly pulled out their side-arms and began firing off several shots. A few of the ZAFT commandos took cover under their own barricades, but the majority of them were going after the two remaining Gundams and other mobile suits.

One pilot was forced to jerk his head downward to dodge spray of gunfire. "We can't let them get to the machines!" He gestured at the closest ZAFT group. "You guys sneak over on the ground that way, we'll provide a distraction." He looked at others. "You guys, get to your mobile suits and launch. We have to get out there! Never mind what's going on in here, we'll take care of it!"

There was a collection of nods and agreements as that pilot and several others that appeared started firing rapidly at the invaders, who returned in kind. Three people were killed as a result. Several men, about fifteen in all, were crawling on their stomachs amongst the debris trying to get to the _Early Harvest_'s supply of GINNs, Strike Daggers and others. One woman managed to get into her own mobile suit and had the Strike Dagger powered up within moments, taking a few steps forward and prepared to head out.

Unfortunately two things went wrong. The first was that the colony shook again violently from the assault and a huge piece of debris fell from the ceiling, crushing the Dagger immediately. The cockpit and everything downward was crushed flat.

The second thing that went wrong was the emergence of a ZAKU Warrior into the hangar.

"Damn it!" one man snarled, huddling against a corner as the ZAKU surveyed the area, then blasted a docked mobile suit whose pilot was trying to board it. On the other side of the port, the ZAFT commandos had spotted the other group heading towards the Gundams and took positions, opening fire upon them without warning. The personnel had no choice but to take cover and return fire, even as several ZAFT soldiers continued working on towards the two offline Gundams.

"We have to take out that ZAKU!" a pilot muttered as it blasted apart another mobile suit, a GINN.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" another demanded, the asteroid shaking again from the attacks. "Shoot it with our guns? We might as well try and kill an elephant with pebbles!"

The first speaker just snarled before his eyes landed on that crushed Strike Dagger. More specifically, it's undamaged rifle…

"How many men does it take to fire a rifle?" he asked quietly as the others looked at the beam weapon.

"…No way."

"You got a better idea?"

A mechanic laughed. "Charley would love this," she shook her head, her blond hair shaking as she did. "Let's do it!"

At that, the mechanic and most of the team ran across the hangar, firing at the ZAKU. Bullets bounced harmlessly off the ZAFT war machine. It turned its attention at them, shooting back and sending them scattering. During that, a team of four carefully but quickly made their way to the downed Strike Dagger. Thanks to the micro-gravity of the asteroid colony, the three of them struggled and managed to lift the rifle just a few feet, enough that the angle of the barrel was pointing at the cockpit of the ZAKU. The blond mechanic put both of her hands on the trigger, just as the ZAKU noticed what they were doing.

Too little, too late.

"Dance in hell," the mechanic uttered as she pulled back with all her might in the trigger. A green energy blast hit the ZAKU's chest dead on, it exploded a mere second later.

The group gave a brief cheer in victory as the pilots made a new attempt at boarding their machines with the mechanics once again covering them. This time, they managed to get onboard safely, allowing the EH units to power up, and take off to the raging battle outside.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Spaceport District**

'_Another attack? Oh goody!!' _Quickly mounting the jet-sled he'd been riding earlier, he flared the engines and shot back down the shaft of the assembly tunnel. With one hand he controlled the sled, while the other hand was busy snapping his helmet back into place over his head and short electric-green hair.

Even when at full throttle, it had taken him several agonizingly long minutes to come within sight of the hangar entrance. As he drew closer, he caught glimpses of gunfire flashing. The attackers had already landed troops within the colony?! He needed to get to the Loyalty and get outside right now!

The roar of his jet engine announced his arrival long before he even came into sight of the fighting sides. So his entrance into the hangar was welcomed by a hail of bullets from the soldiers who were swarming through the debris that was partially blocking the hangar exit.

'_I __**told **__you we __**shouldn't**__ have left sweet Little Betty and Big Bertha back in our room!_' Charley mentally whined to Goldie, longing for his beloved pistol and machine gun. But due to the dire situation, Charley wasn't able to continue his moaning as he had to weave through the murderous bullets, angling for his mobile suit that on the opposite side of the hangar.

Up ahead, he spotted a group of soldiers swarming over the Gundam in question. They were trying to open and board the Loyalty! The only reason they hadn't gotten it already was because they didn't have the proper access codes to open the cockpit, codes that were only known to Goldie and Charley. However, they did seem to be using a scanner of some sort.

"_Oh no you don't, you __**bastards!**_" Charley screamed, mirroring Goldie's thoughts perfectly.

As he came bearing down on the group, some of them quickly noticed his approach and opened fire on him. Shifting the sled slightly and cutting the power of the engines, the bullets pummeled the belly of the steel rocket, doing nothing to stop or deter the speeding missile. The soldiers quickly abandoned the mobile suit as the large projectile bore down towards them. Grabbing the shortened rope and hook he'd used earlier, Charley used the same move as he did in the factory and threw the hook. It caught on the railing of the crosswalk as he passed over it, abandoning the jet-sled as it continued to soar forward. Even without its VPS armor active, the Loyalty emerged from its collision without even scratch upon it from where the sled had smashed into it.

Releasing the rope and launching himself towards the cockpit before the soldiers could react, he punched a special button on his helmet which sent the access codes into the Loyalty's OS, automatically opening the cockpit. With smooth efficiency, he slid into his Gundam and closed the hatch, hands already flying over the controls to activate the mobile suit before he'd even settled into the pilot's chair.

"This is the X3 Loyalty," he called over the radio to the _Early Harvest_. "What's going on? Who's attacking us?"

"_It's ZAFT_," was Brimfield's blunt answer, momentarily surprising Charley. "_Your orders are to engage the enemy mobile suits and drive them away! Or, failing that, protect the __**Early Harvest**__ and __**Late Autumn**__ as we commence evacuation!_"

"I copy," Charley said as the Loyalty's yellow eyes and the newly-changed VPS armor colors flashed to life. The Gundam was no longer a simple yellow and orange color scheme. It had been changed to having a mostly orange body with yellow tiger stripes running along its length.

"It's a battle with _ZAFT!!_" Charley cheered with a twisted sneer on his face and absolute giddiness in his voice. "Oh, I'm going to have _so_ much fun with these guys!"

'_No, you're not, Charley_,' Goldie yelled back coldly as he tried to claim dominance of his body over Charley. '_This battle is about protecting the colony, not feeding your bloodlust!_'

"But—"

'_NO!!_' Goldie barked as they rocketed through the small opening of the hangar exit and blasted out into the midst of the battle taking place outside. '_Senseless violence does not solve a__** thing!**_'

'_Oh __**yes**__ it __**does!**_' Charley practically sang back.

Before Goldie could retort, a warning sounded through his cockpit. Spinning his Gundam around, Charley brought up his shield in time to block a dangerously glowing red whip, though the sheer force of the blow actually knocked his machine backwards slightly.

As he was reorienting himself, an unfamiliar voice came over the radio. "_Pilot of the EHG-X3 Loyalty, Charles Goldsboro, do you copy?_"

Alarms rang through the cockpit as several side-screens came to life, showing that he was surrounded by five GOUF mobile suits, with a violet and lavender machine moving in front of him as the voice continued to speak. "_If you power down your machine and surrender yourself, no harm will come to you_."

'_GOUFs'_" Goldie observed needlessly. '_A whole mass of GOUFs_.'

Without even responding to the GOUF, Charley snapped into motion. With its left hand, the Loyalty grabbed the heat-whip that was sent towards it as its right hand snatched up its beam rifle. Catching the whip and utilizing his Gundam's considerably superior strength, Charley yanked the GOUF forward and spun it uncontrollably into its partner on his opposite side, heavily damaging them while sending both units tumbling.

Turning with the throw, Charley aimed the rifle below his upraised arm and shot the lead purple GOUF right through the torso. Quickly discarding the rifle as he continued to spin, Charley brought up the Loyalty's Amfortas cannons and delivered a pair of killing blasts straight through the ZAFT machines even as they attempted to retaliate, blowing them to pieces. As he recollected his rifle, the Extended Coordinator took a moment to survey his handiwork with a proud grin.

"A whole _**mess**_ of goofs!" Charley said, laughing hysterically as the X3 shifted into its armor form and raced away, seeking more playthings to destroy.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**Above the Mathilde Colony**

The spiky Gundam continued laying down fire on him, forcing Dalen to have the Honor dodge relentlessly to evade its attacks. From his left, the second Gundam came charging while the first machine came in on his right. He quickly withdrew a beam boomerang from his left shoulder and hurled it to the left, forcing it to back off momentarily. He turned around, using his Claymore blade to intercept the first's anti-ship sword. The two monstrous blades clashed before Dalen let go his blade, skipped to the side and punched the unit right in the headpiece. The Gundam jerked backwards as the Honor spun around, adding momentum, and kicking the ZAFT machine in the cockpit while grabbing his sword. Just in time to dodge the spiky Gundam's next shot.

"HA!" he shouted, right before the other Gundam was right above him, it's beam sabers put away as he now wielded a retractable solid sword of some kind, stabbing down on top of him. It sliced through his upper shoulder down a ways across the chest before Dalen could have the Honor pull out, a small explosion coming from the damage as Dalen's scanners began flashing warnings at him.

Nothing serious as of yet, but the motors in his right arm had been damaged. Functionality was reduced by 13 percent. A type of 'flesh' wound, if such a term could be used for a mobile suit. If that pilot had been more forceful in his strike, it would have gone straight to the cockpit. Why hadn't he? What was this pilot, a novice?

He didn't have time to survey the damage further as the DRAGOONs came right at him again, blasting all over the place and forcing him to flee backwards. The other two quickly opted for the same action, putting away their melee weapons and firing down rapidly at the EH mobile suit.

In a bizarre type of game and dance, the Honor dashed across the side of the colony, unable to go anywhere else due to the constant stream of deadly energy blasts. He zipped by across the port distinct over to the factory, where he could see surprised faces of fellow EH personal looking at the chase through the windows. The Lieutenant had to constantly weave and dodge, not able to return a shot with his rifle gone. He did, however, take his second Claymore blade and began blocking what shots he could. He might as well been trying to block rain in a thunderstorm for all the success he had.

At that, the three ZAFT Gundams broke apart, each coming at him from a separate direction, one high, one low and the third in the middle. Immediately, the pirate pushed the Honor's thrusters as hard as he could, flying directly towards the middle one, the DRAGOON unit. It was strictly a long range unit, so if he could get close, it was his!!

Using a series of thrusts, sprints and luck, he managed to blast past the DRAGOONs as he snapped his Claymores together into one. The other two units came after him, but they were too far off. His face twisted in concentration he dashed towards his intended target, when placements on its legs opened and it pulled out two javelin-like beam weapons.

"What the hell are those!?!" Dalen shouted mostly to himself as the gray machine used the first beam javelin to divert his Claymore sword, and the second one clashing against the Gundam's upper body, its VPS armor barely holding the beam weapon off. The result was the Honor losing its grip on its Claymore sword as it went flying through space.

A second later, the red-winged Gundam was at right at him, it's massive sword out again as it swing it like a baseball bat, deliberately striking the Honor with the flat side of the blade and 'batting' him towards the white and black unit.

"GOLDIE!!!" Dalen screamed through the radio again as he tried to regain control. "HENRY!! IF YOU TWO DON'T GET OUT HERE IN THE NEXT _FIVE SECONDS_, I SWEAR _MY GHOST WILL HAUNT YOU AND ANY DECSENDENTS __**UNTIL THE END OF TIME!!!**_"

His plea was answered by the ZAFT mobile suit he was tumbling towards, firing the beam pistol attached to its sword at the damaged right shoulder of the Honor before whipping his retractable sword forward again, and swatting him away much like the other one had. By this time, the Honor was flying through the space like a ragdoll as Dalen tried to regain control of his machine and failing miserably. The machine then took out its large beam cannon; one that would have _explosive _results should it manage to hit.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Spaceport District**

After destroying a pair of Slash ZAKUs that were harassing the hangar exit, Charley noticed the streaking trails of mobile suit engine emissions and flew off to investigate. What he found was definitely something interesting. He'd watched the byplay of the three ZAFT Gundams with only mild interest as they toyed with the Honor.

So they wanted to play like that? Okay, he'd play with them! Rocketing forward at the maximum speeds his Loyalty could achieve in its mobile armor configuration, Charley let out a loud cheer as he rapidly closed in on the white and black Gundam that was trying to get a target lock on the Honor.

Almost too late, the ZAFT Gundam detected his presence and attempted to react. However, by that time, the Loyalty had already changed back into a mobile suit and brought its shield up. With a powerful crash that sent both machines reeling from the impact, the EH Gundam smashed shield first into the ZAFT Gundam's hastily raised energy shield. Reorienting himself quicker, Charley raised one of his Amfortas plasma cannons and placed its barrel pointblank with the Gundam's cockpit.

"Bye-bye!" he cooed, as though speaking to an infant as he fingered the trigger.

A nanosecond later, the large gray Gundam let loose a series of potshots towards Charley, suitably distracting him. Forewarned by the target-lock alarm, the Loyalty spun and raised its shield, blocking the shots. In the same movement, it also kicked out and sent the enemy Gundam tumbling away from him as he faced the DRAGOON Gundam with raised eyebrows. He vaguely recognized that machine's silhouette from somewhere, but where…? Oh well, not important!

As the DRAGOONs suddenly blasted free of the unit, Charley laughed loudly as he shifted the Loyalty into its plane form. With a boost of its engines, the EH Gundam flew off in a random direction as it idly dodged the slightly slower moving beam cannons behind it, easily drawing the Gundam away from the Honor to chase the agile little fighter.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**Spaceport District**

With the factory and Hizacks secure, Henry made his way to the port with haste. Fortunately ZAFT's infiltration of Mathilde seems to have been rather limited, thus with no distraction he grabbed his flight suit, sealed it up, and made it to the hangar in record time.

The port was clear of enemy units and a beehive of activity with EH personal, which Henry attributed to how the Honor and Loyalty weren't in their docks.

'_Good, those two will have cleared a path for us to work._' he thought has he scrambled towards the Courage, noting that there were signs of tampering around the cockpit.

'_ZAFT probably got inside like they did in the factory, but were repulsed._' he didn't dwell on the thought as he entered the code that opened the cockpit hatch and climbed in. Within moments of having climbed into the pilot's chair, Henry had the mobile suit fully activated and ready to go.

"This is Henry in the EHG-X1 Courage. Can anyone give me a status report?" he asked over the general EH channel. The first to respond was Brimfield.

"_Henry! Where have you been!?_" asked the captain.

"Sorry for the delay, sir. A ZAFT infiltration team got into factory Hangar 4 and I had to deal with the situation. The intruders have been neutralized and there's no discernable sabotage."

"_Well that's a bit of good news. Unfortunately Dalen and Charley need your help. ZAFT has fielded three new Gundam mobile suits and their barely being held off. Our top priority is to drive away the enemy mobile suits and those machines are making things difficult. They need to be eliminated._"

Henry tensed for a moment as soon as he heard the word 'Gundam'. "Understood sir. I'm launching now."

'_Gundams, wonderful,_' he thought dryly. '_What kind of systems has ZAFT installed in these_?'

The Courage disappeared from sight as Henry activated the Mirage Colloid. Now invisible to the world, he launched the Gundam out into the battlefield beyond, searching for his comrades and the dangerous opponents they face.

It wasn't that hard to spot them really, all of their activity glowing on his sensors. However there was a _Nazca_-class moving between him and them and moving in a position of threat to the colony.

'_First things first,_' Henry switched the Courage over from Mirage Colloid to VPS. Bringing the Kerberos up, he unleashed the cannons' full power on the ship, tearing off its portside wing and critically damaging its engines.

The ship listed off no longer a threat, but unfortunately it had caught the attention of one of the ZAFT Gundams. The black, yellow, and blue unit that had a physical sword equipped to its right arm.

'_Where's the shield?_' Henry wondered, noting that there was no obvious mean for blocking beams.

The enemy Gundam broke off from its engagement with the Loyalty, leaving Charley alone to deal with one that had a large backpack mounted weapons system.

The one coming for the Courage brought up a back mounted cannon. Henry dodged the high-energy beam, putting the Courage on a flight arc for an area with a greater concentration of debris while firing both his beam pistols for cover, only for the beams to be blocked by a barrier of energy.

"A Lightwave barrier!?" Henry exclaimed in shock. Shock that distracted him a moment to long making him responded slowly to an incoming beam that clipped the Courage's leg, partially melting the armor and damaging underlying circuitry.

Gritting his teeth in frustration Henry closed the full shield and switched back to Mirage Colloid.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**7 kilometers north of the Spaceport District**

Sneering as an idea came to mind, the Loyalty changed back as it turned and charged back at the ZAFT Gundam. With its beam rifle in its left hand and a saber in its right, the EH Gundam delivered a quick slash towards the artillery machine. However an energy shield sprung to life, easily blocking the beam saber. Quickly backing away with a spray of gunfire, the ZAFT machine brought its DRAGOONs to bear, sending the Loyalty into a chaotic game of dodges and almost hits.

In an almost random fashion, Charley lured his enemy into the Debris Belt surrounding the colony asteroid as he sheathed his beam saber. Dodging behind a particularly large chunk of a destroyed _Drake_-class warship, Charley activated his Mirage Colloid and waited impatiently. It was time to play one of his more favorite games of hide-and-seek, a horribly warped version of it to be sure. But it was a game that he'd mastered after playing it several times during the last few pirate attacks.

After a few moments, the ZAFT Gundam appeared from around the debris, its eyes glowing dangerously as it attempted to locate its invisible enemy. After a moment of stillness, it recalled its DRAGOONs and began to slowly drift through the debris, its head turning every which way as it tried to find Charley.

'_Just a little closer_,' Charley silently urged the machine as it unknowingly drew steadily closer to a particular piece of debris. '_That's it, just a __**little**__ closer_.'

'_Charley, now __**isn't**__ the time for your __**games!**_' Goldie snapped, clearly fed up with his opposite half's violent tendencies. '_We are __**supposed**__ to be protecting the colony and the ships from the attack. __**Not**__ playing cat-and-mouse with a machine that could __**easily**__ blow us apart!_'

'_You __**would**__ be right_,' Charley agreed, an arrogant sneer pulling at his face. '_But clearly you __**haven't**__ been paying all that much attention to this fight! The pilot in that machine has __**no idea**__ how to utilize that Gundam, not a __**clue**__ as to how to pull out its __**maximum**__ combat potential! Even __**you**__ could kick his ass if you really tried!_'

'_But the colony_—'

'_Is being protected by everyone else!_' Charley snapped. '_Let them do their jobs for once, and let me get back to my game!_'

To accent his declaration, he took a shot at the debris that the ZAFT Gundam was now well within blast range of. The beam struck the vulnerable debris, triggering the space mine that was hidden within it and causing it to erupt in a large explosion that showered the powerful Gundam with shrapnel.

Of course the VPS armor of the Gundam was easily strong enough to protect it from any damage. However the force of the explosion disoriented the pilot, as well as momentarily blinding the machine's sensors. That split-second of blindness was just the break that Charley needed to move to a different position.

And not a second too soon, for as soon as the gray unit could see again, it had turned and sent a burst of beam-fire in the general direction that the Loyalty had been hidden in, even striking the very spot that the EH machine had been at by pure coincidence. With a large grin, Charley fired off a single shot at his enemy, easily leading it into another trap as it attempted to calculate his estimated trajectory.

Oh, how he loved this game!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

All around the Mathilde Colony, mobile suits continued to do battle, swarming around their targets like gnats. A Gunner ZAKU took aim with its Orthros beam cannon and blasted an emerging EH Strike Dagger from the hangar, blowing it to pieces.

A Blaze ZAKU withdrew and lobbed a hand grenade at an EH GINN, blowing it to atoms before being blasted itself by a pirate GuAIZ.

Two EH mobile suits, a ZAKU and CGUE made a run towards the _Nazca_-class firing their weapons down on it. The guns on the ZAFT ship fired back, destroying one of them, but the other managed to get away with a few hits along its starboard engine. But then it got slashed in the back by ZAKU Warrior with its tomahawk.

"_Carlos! ZAKU on your six!_"

Carlos, piloting a rarity, an Orb Astray, turned around just in time to thrust his beam saber into the ZAFT mobile suit's cockpit, destroying the unit. Another Gunner ZAKU took aim with its Orthros cannon and fired. Carlos managed to avoid the worst of the hit, but it still destroyed one of the Astray's legs and inflicted serious damage to the engines. Unable to control it, he plummeted down into the colony, crashing through a window. The air was blown out through the breach, sucking any unfortunate and unprepared pirates nearby into the cold depths of space.

At the hangar entrance, three EH mobile suits, all Strike Daggers, were furiously trying to protect the entrance as more ZAFT units swarmed around. They had managed to blow one to pieces before a Slash ZAKU rained its two Hydra Gatling beam guns onto them, blowing two of them up in a second.

"_I need back up!_" the third one cried frantically. "_Ba—AHHH!!!_" Two ZAKU Warriors sliced it into places. The pilot's dying scream echoing over the radio channels.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Spaceport District**

The battle, if you could call it that, had quickly gone from bad to worse the longer it was drawn out. It was taking all of Captain Jonas Brimfield's self-control to keep from scowling while he stared at the battle-feed that that was filtering across the display table on the _Early Harvest_'s bridge. These were some really despicable tactics that ZAFT were taking in this battle. Bombs likely placed by a small strike team at strategic locations throughout the colony itself had effectively separated the three districts by cutting the communication lines and venting precious atmosphere into the vacuum of space.

If the recent and numerous pirate factions hadn't started attacking, Brimfield would've been willing to bet that the causalities would've been quite numerous in the colony. But in a twist of ironic fate, he was almost willing to bet that many of the people on the colony had become paranoid of yet another surprise attack and were already wearing their spacesuits.

However, it was shortly after those bombs had gone off that the real attack had begun with ZAFT firing long-range missiles into the factory and spaceport districts. ZAFT was trying to limit the number of opposing enemy mobile suits that could be scrambled to join the battle by isolating them within their respective areas while their own mobile suits moved in to destroy the colony's strangely unresponsive defense systems. Under normal circumstances, this strategy would've been extremely effective at disarming a hostile colony and forcing it to surrender.

But the Mathilde Colony was run by Captain Jonas Brimfield and the _Early Harvest_, who weren't normal pirates.

"Captain, all our available mobile suits have boarded and the _Late Autumn_ is reporting that they're filled past their capacity as well," Lieutenant Ohajin reported. "The X-units have all engaged unknown ZAFT Gundams and are currently battling with them outside the colony."

"Launch the ship!" Brimfield barked from his command chair. "Order the _Late Autumn_ to follow our departure under the Colloid. Prepare to activate the Amano Heki System as soon as we exit the hangar. Load all launchers with missiles and prepare to fire the Gottfried."

"There's too much debris blocking the exit, Captain!" Yukiko Tomino, the young lady at the helm, called out even as she was busy preparing to obey the command to launch.

"Charge the Lohengrin!" Brimfield barked out immediately. "We'll blast our through the debris and protect our home!"

"Lohengrin One charging…" Takeshi Nojiri, the gunner, reported. "Charging complete, disengaging safety locks…ready to fire, sir!"

"Fire!"

A split second later the massive positron beam shot forth, incinerating everything within its path as it blasted forward. Though they weren't aware of it, the same attack caused the _Nazca_ outside to frantically break off its attack as it evaded to the side. Yet the positron beam still managed to clip its starboard wing and cause critical damage to the engines stored within it, which had to be quickly put into emergency shutdown to prevent a cataclysmic meltdown. The wingless _Nazca_ slowly began to careen to the side away from the colony, its remaining stability completely gone.

With the newly created hole, the _Early Harvest_'s engines picked up power as it forcefully nudged its way through the exit. Before the ship could even fully pass through the hangar doors, the missile launchers on the bow of the ship started opening fire upon the ZAFT mobile suits that were within range. Nearly all the missiles were blocked or destroyed but they did serve to distract the pilots long enough for the _Early Harvest_ to successfully depart.

"Enemy mobile suits approaching!" Yachi Lungho, the CIC and radar operator, reported. "Three Gunner ZAKUs and two Slash ZAKUs—moving into firing positions!"

"Activate the Amano Heki!" Brimfield ordered.

Outside the spaceship, a series of small objects suddenly shot out on small wire lines from the ship's hull and flew off into certain positions around it. Just as the ZAFT mobile suits collectively opened fire, the small detachments suddenly emitted bright beams of green energy that interconnected with one another and formed a prism shield around the entire ship, effectively protecting it from the five ZAKUs' attacks.

"Emergency launch the Hulda Team to draw off enemy fire from us and the colony!" Brimfield ordered as soon the flashes died down. "Raise bow pitch fifty, boost engines and have the Gottfried target the _Nazca!_"

As Yachi, Takeshi, and Yukiko quickly responded to his commands, he turned to the Ohajin and said, "Contact the _Late Autumn_, order them to evacuate the factory district while we head to the residential area. Once the evacuations' complete, order them to rendezvous with us!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**2 kilometers east of the Spaceport District**

As the Courage disappeared, compartments opened up on the ZAFT Gundam's shoulders revealing small Gatling cannons that fired a storm of beam energy in an attempt to flush out the Courage. However Henry had already taken refuge behind a small asteroid.

'_Damn it, I need more information._' thought Henry as he worked on a battle plan to take down the Gundam. '_So far it's used a high-energy cannon, beam Gatling cannons, and has some sort of beam pistol in that sword. I also saw a standard beam rifle on its waist and two beam sabers. And there's no way that was truly lightwave technology. Eurasia would never let anyone get a hold of their greatest defensive technology, so ZAFT probably developed this on its own. That just leaves the physical sword. Is it some new model of anti-ship sword or is it a heat weapon like the GOUF's whip?_'

Alarms sounded, alerting Henry that the sensors picked up a new heat source, right behind the Courage. Henry's eyes widened in alarm, immediately bringing the VPS back online. Just in time as the asteroid exploded, sending superheated rock shrapnel flying everywhere.

It would have significantly damaged the Courage if it didn't have the VPS armor active. "Smart," Henry muttered, moving his mobile suit to dodge the incoming beams. "Super heat the asteroid, causing various materials to change composition and excite any trapped gases to the point the pressure is too much."

The Courage slowed, allowing shots from the beam pistol and rifle to strike the shields. "Let's see how you like this," he said as he launched a wave of Firefly missiles forward. They fell quickly to CIWS and Gatling fire, but the reprieve was enough. The full shield opened and the Kerberos fired.

Then enemy pilot wasn't as distracted as Henry hoped, immediately bringing up its energy shield on its right arm. Only this time the energy didn't disperse, it seemed to disappear as the blue beam energy morphed into a bright yellow. Once the energy was gone, the Gundam pulled out both its energy cannon and beam rifle and fired the two weapons in rapid succession.

"That thing has some power output," Henry muttered as he pulled the Courage into a tight loop around an asteroid, coming around the other side armed with the sniper rifle and fired repeatedly with deadly accuracy.

The Gundam tried to dodge but the beams were too accurate. It was forced to use its beam shield. Again the beams disappeared into the strange yellow energy and with each shot the mobile suit seemed to gain a small boost in speed.

It gained rapidly on the Courage and closed the gap to close quarters combat. Henry stopped his bombardment and pulled out a beam javelin, thrusting it at the charging Gundam, but the beam was blocked by the physical sword.

The Gundam went for a beam saber on its hip but the Courage was just a tad faster, using a beam pistol to shoot the mobile suit's hand as it brought up the weapon. A minor victory that was short lived as the Gundam's physical sword began to overpower the Courage's beam javelin, before the EH mobile suit was completely shoved back.

Henry grunted as his bones shook when the Courage slammed into a nearby asteroid. Gritting his teeth Henry fought to keep his focus, moving the Courage just in time to avoid the Gundam's sword that slashed the rock where Henry's Gundam once was, leaving a massive scar.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**2 kilometers west of the Spaceport District**

With a beam saber in each hand, the Honor shot forth towards the winged ZAFT Gundam which was firing down rapidly with its beam rifle. The former FAITH agent found it rather simple to evade the beams not even having to use his shield.

"Not so tough without your buddies, are you!?" Dalen taunted, glad to be on the offensive. He swung his left beam saber at the machine, forcing it to dodge to the right. Immediately he struck with his right beam saber in an unfocused frenzy, to which the enemy Gundam held up its arm and energy-based shield sprang to life, blocking Dalen's strikes.

Not having the slightest clue what this shield was, Dalen kept up his barrage, swinging with both blades. After a few seconds of this, it became apparent that he couldn't break though the thing's defense, so the Lieutenant made an uppercut strike at the cockpit. As expected, the ZAFT machine parried the blow. In that instance, Dalen jerked on his controls with a series of quick accelerations and decelerations as the Honor moved upward, spun forward and delivered a kick to the upper chest area, propelling it backwards. But not before the ZAFT unit retaliated by slamming its shield into the Honor itself, propelling it the opposite direction.

The two Gundams quickly recovered as the Honor slammed its two beam sabers together while the enemy pulled out its long range beam cannon from its backside and fired a volley, which Dalen dodged. Firing a series of CIWs shots he rushed forward, evading left and right as the Gundam fired shot after shot. As soon as Dalen drew closer to it, the machine reached back and pulled out a beam boomerang and hurled it at the Honor.

Dalen kept a keen eye on it as he lunged out, caught the incoming weapon in the Honor's free hand, and he threw it right back! If the pilot of the Gundam was surprised, it didn't show because the winged machine batted the boomerang away with its shield expertly, and then aimed its beam rifle for a shot. On instinct, Dalen had the Honor withdraw a combat knife from the Honor's hip compartments and hurled the blade with perfect aim right at the rifle. It lodged itself in the nozzle. A second later, the weapon exploded on itself.

"Ha!" Dalen cried out in glee as he flew towards the machine striking again with his double-bladed beam saber. The enemy machine flew upward avoiding the strike but the Honor kept on flying at full speed towards his discarded Claymore sword. He put his beam sabers away as he reacquired his primarily weapon.

But not before having the Honor giving the middle finger to his winged adversary.

That made the machine's eyes glow menacingly, as if to say 'I don't like being played' as it took out its anti-ship sword again as a blast of purplish light flared from its wings like some elegant butterfly. With a newfound burst of speed, the mobile suit shot at the Honor. The EH Gundam complied by surging right back, Claymore ready.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Factory District**

The redhead known as Professor K stood before the communication terminal of Assembly Hangar 2 that she was in. On the monitor, she watched various images of the interior of the colony as the sudden assault continued to pound into the asteroid's surface and the exposed areas of the colony, namely the spaceport hangar and the factory's shipping area.

The ZAFT forces were being positively relentless in their attacks. Despite the colony's mobile suits doing their best to drive the attackers away from their home, the expertise of the ZAFT pilots simply overwhelmed even the better pilots that the _Early Harvest_ had to offer. Thanks to those strange new Gundams that ZAFT had brought along, none of her babies (the X-units) were able to come and aid the defenders.

But that wasn't what was making K so uncomfortable; it was the mystery of how ZAFT was able to sneak up on the colony in the first place. None of the _Nazca_ and _Laurasia_ ships or their mobile suits seemed equipped with Mirage Colloid, so that narrowed the possibilities somewhat. And though she was a scientist and engineer by profession, K wasn't a genius for nothing. That was how she was quickly able to use her special access codes to hack into the colony's network and start surveying the interior for the ZAFT strike force that had likely been sent.

And she found them in the most likely place possible; the colony central command center, surrounded by the bodies of the men and women who had been unfortunate to be running the center at the time. Though there was no audio, she could easily guess that the strike team was feeding valuable information about the combat taking place outside the colony to their strike force. This was possible because the _Early Harvest_, _Late Autumn_, and all their mobile suits were plugged into the colony network to better increase their combat efficiency when defending the colony.

"Professor, what's going on?" one of her tech assistants asked in a slightly panicking tone as the colony began trembling again.

"ZAFT agents have taken control of the command center," K answered, her voice cold and precise. "They've sealed off the three districts and seem to be venting the atmosphere. And it looks like they're aiding their friends outside as well."

Turning back to the relatively small group of people who were in the hangar with her, K watched as the line of spacesuit-clad people in front of the two shuttles was steadily diminishing. "Takoyama, have we recovered everyone we could find?"

"No, madam," Takoyama answered, sounding extremely distressed. For good reason since her twin daughters had gone missing shortly after the attack started, and multiple collapsed corridors and sealed doorways were barring her and everyone else from properly searching for the lost children and others. "But we have managed to gather as many people as we could find here. We're nearly finished loading the Mirage Shuttles."

Nodding, K turned back to the monitor she'd been using. As she went about her work, she couldn't help but wish that Akira was here. He was the computer genius after all. And it certainly wasn't easy for her to bring up the special Omega Dogma program that Brimfield had her install years ago without attracting the command center's attention.

As she was busy working, she called out over the radio to everyone in the area. "Listen up, people! I need the five best mobile suit pilots in the area to head over to Hangar 4. There are combat-ready mobile suits over there, our new Hizacks! Use them to protect the Mirage Shuttles once we take off and rejoin the _Harvest_ and _Autumn!_"

"Yes, madam!" a series of voice responded, followed shortly by five individuals separating from the group to rush for the aforementioned hangar.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

In space, the eight member Hulda Team blasted several ZAFT mobile suits in their opening volleys, temporarily shifting the tide of battle to the pirates' favor. A couple of ZAFT machines, which had been near the residential area during the Hulda Team assault, turned about and fired directly at their new enemies backsides, destroying two of them.

"_Draw them away from the colony!_" the team leader shouted as a third of the ZAKUs' number went back to the residential area. The EH and ZAFT suits buzzed around like flies as they tried to destroy each other. The team leader, piloting a GuAIZ, activated the dual beam claws mount on the machine's arm and slashed through a Blaze ZAKU.

"_This is McGravins in the factory distinct!_" came a panicked voice over the team's radio "_We're being overrun! There's too m—!_"

Then the line went dead.

The remaining members rushed over towards the factory, weapons blazing hard. They were able to destroy two of the five ZAFT mobile suits in the opening moments. However a Gunner ZAKU took aim and fired, missing the team as two GINNs converged on it, one cutting through its weapon and the other cutting the machine itself.

A Slash ZAKU took out a grenade and threw it at the incoming enemy machines, but the team leader fired his anchor claws, managing to hit the grenade and detonating it prematurely. He raised his own weapon and shot a single blast, striking the ZAKU and destroying it.

The rest of his team struck the remaining mobile suit from all sides. The poor guy never had a chance. The team leader smiled at himself. Finally, the battle was looking to be in their favor!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Outside the Factory District**

Outside the ruins that remained of the industrial plant, three ZAKU were scouting through the debris that the _Laurasia_ and _Nazca_ warships had reduced the exposed portion of the factory to. Most of it was little more than clouds of dust, rubble, and twisted metal, although there were a few bodies amongst the rubble, including a pair of little girls no older than ten. Such a sight as those two children was enough to cause the Slash ZAKU pilot who found them to weep uncontrollably in anguish over their deaths; he knew immediately that they had been innocents caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.

But his remorse didn't last long before two things happened in short order. The first was a large interior doorway suddenly opening. The passageway was completely dark inside its recesses, save for a series of glowing mono-sensors that suddenly sprung to life inside it. The owners of the mono-sensors quickly exposed themselves as belonging to some strange orange mobile suits that shot out of the darkness. Those strange ZAKU-like mobile suits quickly opened fire upon the trio of ZAFT mobile suits, immediately causing them to fall back away from the factory.

The second thing was a pair of high-intensity warship-grade beams that shot forward out of nowhere. These beams struck the _Nazca_-class in its engines before it could be given a chance to respond to the attack. A split second later, a faded orange _Nazca_-class warship appeared as it deactivated its Mirage Colloid while aiming to disable the _Laurasia_. What was this? A new enemy?

Reacting quickly to the sudden deadly retaliation that was taking place, the three ZAKU grouped back together near the two ships as their enemies congregated together as well. Despite themselves, the ZAKU pilots couldn't help but wish that they had more backup. Their attack forces had divided themselves up. There was one _Nazca_ per district and the two _Laurasia_ providing backup for the residential and factory areas while the third _Nazca_ took the majority of their mobile suits to assault the more heavily armed spaceport and the pirates' warship.

Based on their information, the pirates had only one operable warship but over several dozen mobile suits of inferior designs available. A common ZAKU could easily outfight most of the machines that pirate groups tended to have in their possession. But when did the pirates acquire this second warship? And what were those new machines? They looked remarkably similar to the ZAKU, and yet very much different at the same time. They were trimmer as compared to the ZAKU's slightly bulky figure. And though these new suits shared the same type of headpiece as a ZAKU, they had extra thrusters attached to the sides of their shins and backside, likely for an increased speed, agility, and performance.

Suffice to say that the pilots of the Slash ZAKU, Blaze ZAKU, and Gunner ZAKU suddenly didn't feel nearly as confident as they felt they should've been when facing the usually undertrained, but overconfident riffraff that were pirating groups.

And this hesitation to engage proved to be very well-founded as the five new machines suddenly attacked, each wielding a special weapon that more than leveled the playing field that the pilots were fighting on.

The Gunner ZAKU took a shot with its Orthros, which was quickly deflected to the side when one of the mobile suits came forward with its Geschmeidig Panzer shield. As the mobile suit shifted to the side, one of its partners behind it returned fire with its own Orthros beam cannon. While this was taking place, the three other suits dashed off to the sides, one of them unleashing a set of DRAGOONs upon the Blaze ZAKU and a second suit was rushing forward at the Slash ZAKU with a pair of large beam swords.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

**4 kilometers west of the Spaceport District**

Like two rockets, the two Gundams sped at each other, reared their massive swords back and clashed. The recoil from that clash was massive, violently shaking the pilots in their cockpits and cracking both swords. This close up, both pilots could read the machines codenames printed on the foreheads of both units.

EHG-X2 Honor

ZGMF-X42S Destiny

Neither pilot was fazed as they quickly withdrew and unleashed a massive barrage of sword strikes at each other, their blades clashing over again and again, faster and faster. Sparks flew with each clash of the blades, like fire from the heavens itself was raining down on them. This only intensified as both pilots randomly fired their CIWS at each other.

As one both Gundams backed off from each other, zipping back and forth with their engines pushing themselves to the max as they collided again and again. Thrusting forward once again, both Gundams threw their massive swords into another tremendous strike… and the Honor's sword buckled backwards.

At that same moment, red lights began flashing erratically. A diagram of the Honor flashed up on a screen, its right shoulder bathed in red with a number 47.

_What the hell do you mean functionality is reduced to 47 frickin percent!? _Dalen mentally roared at the systems when the importance of the message hit him. The some of the Destiny's CIWS shots had hit his shoulder, furthering the damage, and all the intensive swinging just magnified it!

The Destiny pressed forward, shoving the Honor's Claymore blade away, and then kicking the EH Gundam away. Dalen gritted his teeth as he tumbled away, splitting the Claymore sword and returning one of the two swords onto his back. Even though it was a Gundam, he still couldn't wield the full blade with just one hand, especially not when his right arm was only half effective. But he still could do this…

As the Honor flipped to recover from the kick, it withdrew its second beam boomerang and threw it right at the Destiny. Then he opened fired on it with his CIWS. The beam boomerang exploded with an intense but brief light that lasted only a split second, which was all he needed.

The Destiny wasn't affected by the mini explosion as a figure emerged from the blast right towards him. The pilot swung his Arondight anti-ship sword forward… and slashed through a discarded shield.

From behind the Destiny, the Honor deactivated its Mirage Colloid. The half Claymore in his left hand was raised up, ready to strike the exposed ZAFT mobile suit, when an unexpected blast from the side suddenly struck the Honor right in the chest.

Dalen was roughly jolted around the cockpit from the impact recoil, his unprotected head taking a pounding in the process. Badly. Blood began dripping from his forehead over his eyes, his vision quickly hazing over with what felt like a mallet suddenly pounding against his skull like crazy. _**This**__ is why you wear helmets…_

Unable to operate the Gundam, the machine plummeted towards the Mathilde where it crashed into the asteroid with considerable force, slamming Dalen around anew against the metal interior. A moment later, he lost consciousness with the Honor lying on the space rock helplessly, unable to move or defend itself.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**5 kilometers from Spaceport**

'_This is fun!_' Charley mentally cheered, though it lacked the same enthusiasm as earlier.

He was gritting his teeth angrily as he deftly evaded the barrage of beams that the DRAGOONs were blasting his way. It was taking all his skill just to dodge the beams, even though they weren't dancing around him like before. Instead, they were grouped near the ZAFT Gundam and were attacking without pause or much aim as they fired at him. It was a simplistic way of using them, but quite effective at keeping him far enough away from being as effective as he could be. And it had the added bonus of allowing the pilot a chance to rest while Charley was forced to flee for his life.

Spinning and rolling to the sides as he attempted to duck behind the various pieces of ship debris, he wished he could take the time to wipe the sweat off his face. It was really starting to build up on him as the fight lengthened, slowly sapping him of even his Extended strength and endurance. This fight was really starting to get annoying for him, especially because he couldn't use his Mirage Colloid to hide under any longer. The ZAFT pilot had figured out a way of forcing him to remain visible by laying out a massive, random barrage into space around his Gundam with his DRAGOONs.

As he was taking a few precious moments to recover his breath, Charley was finally able to think up a possible plan. What he needed was a distraction or two for the ZAFT pilot to fall for long enough for him to get up close and personal. '_That's when it'll __**really**__ get fun!_'

A sudden message appearing on his side-monitor caught his attention. '_X2 down; recover. Return to __**Harvest**__ and __**Autumn**__, factory district_,' it read. They actually shot down one of the X-units?!

As the ZAFT Gundam moved into view and opened fire upon the EH Gundam once again, the Loyalty shifted into its mobile armor form and shot away at top speeds. The ZAFT Gundam recalled its DRAGOONs as it gave chase, but the Loyalty had considerably more powerful thrusters than its opponent did and easily outpaced it.

Skimming across the surface of the asteroid, the Loyalty broadened its sensor range, hoping to locate the IFF signal of the Honor. Where could it be?! He easily dodged and ignored the few shots that the persistent ZAFT pilot was shooting towards him as he continued to fly away in a random searching pattern.

Turning and flying off towards the Residential District, Charley blinked as he spotted an alert coming upon his monitor. There, up ahead and several kilometers to his left, was that red winged Gundam from before. But it was its cargo that instantly drew Charley's attention, the X2 Honor hung limply from its arms with its VPS armor deactivated. Adjusting his flight path instantly, Charley gunned the X3's engines for every spare amount of power they could give. _I won't let them get the X2!_

Letting out a loud yell as he neared the unprepared Gundam, the Loyalty changed back into a mobile suit as it brought its shield up to bear. Moments before he reached the Gundam, it finally detected his presence and moved to counter, dropping the X2 as it reacted to his approach. Just like earlier, he rammed into his opponent's shield with his own with staggering force. The incredible force of impact knocked both Gundams apart for the split second it took for them to recover.

As the red and blue Gundam brought its beam sword to bear, Charley showered it with Vulcan fire that destroyed the weapon. In the seconds it took for him to raise one of his Amfortas plasma cannons, his opponent saw this and quickly dodged to the side, causing Charley's shot to miss badly. Not relenting, Charley continued to fire one shot after another no regard to aiming properly. He was just trying to force the Gundam to back away far enough from the still-motionless X2 so he could dash in and grab it.

Dodging yet another blast, the enemy Gundam brought up its own heavy beam cannon and fired as Charley swung the right Amfortas plasma cannon forward. The two large beams struck one another, clashing for a brief moment before exploding in blinding flash of light. That flash was just what Charley needed.

He rocketed down to where the X2 was slowly falling back towards the asteroid and grabbed it. By the time he was flying over towards where he could faintly see the flashes of the battle his captain's ship was in, the two ZAFT Gundams that were on his heels responded to his sudden move and followed after him in a hurry.

He had just stolen one of their prizes. They would _not_ allow him to escape (again)!

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

**Mathilde Control Center**

Major Ishikawa watched the ensuing battle from the command center with rapt attention. Even with him and his team feeding their comrades crucial information about the pirates' locations, attack formations, and the clearly superior skills of the ZAKU pilots, these pirates were proving to be some truly difficult opponents to beat. As a commander in the field, Ishikawa thought that he could easily guess just why these pirates were so resilient to ambushes and attacks. There was a level trust among these people that normally didn't exist in most pirate factions. A level of trust that allowed them to guard each others' backs, with no fear of being backstabbed or abandoned. And this level of trust helped them to operate and battle together with an efficiency that was almost the equivalent of any nation's military.

"Major," one of his team members spoke up. "I'm detecting new heat signatures over the factory, and heat dissipation suggests a battle—_Barfest_ is reporting critical engine damage and a new enemy warship and mobile suits have arrived!"

"Where's the _Galvani_?" Ishikawa asked as he came over to watch the monitor of the spokesman.

"Currently engaging the new pirate ship, a _Nazca_-class," was the answer. "Sir, the pirate mobile suits are overwhelming the Kanatui Team!"

"Send reinforcements from the Izald Team immediately, disable or destroy that new warship as the case may be!" Turning back to his computer hacker, he said, "How's the database download coming along?"

"It had been running smoothly at first, sir," the woman reported. "But a few minutes ago, there seems to be some new program called Omega Dogma that's been activated, some kind of system trap. I can't bypass it, it's…slippery."

"Shut it down," Ishikawa ordered as he turned his attention back to the battles place. "What's the status of our Gundams?"

"They're still engaged in combat over the spaceport area with those pirate machines. The pilots are having quite some trouble with capturing the enemy Gundams."

"Maybe it's time for us to stop playing around with them," Ishiwana thought to himself aloud. "Contact the—"

A suddenly alarm flared to life through the command center and the colony interior, complete with flashing red lights and a deafening siren.

"What's happening?!" Ishikawa yelled over the wailing alarm.

"_Omega Dogma activated_," a computerized voice said over the loudspeakers. "_Initiating in thirty seconds_."

"_MAJOR!!_" his hacker yelled in a fright.

Rushing over to her station, Ishikawa took one look at the computer's monitor and paled immediately.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: animefan29

**2 kilometers east of the Spaceport District**

Backing off as fast as he could, Henry activated the Mirage Colloid, hiding from the view of his enemy. The ZAFT pilot didn't hesitate as he brought up its high energy cannon to start shooting asteroids to create shrapnel, which was what Henry wanted. The invisible Courage activated and threw its beam javelin, piecing the end of the cannon causing it to explode.

Despite his mobile suit being undamaged, the ZAFT pilot must have been enraged as it started firing its beam pistol wildly while unleashing a hail of energy from the Gatling cannons in an attempt to flush out the Courage.

"Lose your head, lose your life," Henry muttered as the Courage became visible and lined up a shot from behind an asteroid.

Suddenly the alarms sounded alerting Henry to an approaching threat from behind. The Courage turned and caught a Falx beam axe on one of its opened shields. The Courage shoved the Slash ZAKU off while pulling out the second beam javelin, thrusting it through a gap between mobile suit and its shield.

The skewered ZAKU exploded, and while no longer a threat, the damage had been done. Henry didn't need alarms to alert him to the approaching danger, and was already trying to move away from the area.

Too slowly as the enemy Gundam was already upon him, slashing forward with its remaining beam saber and cutting off the Courage's left leg.

'_It's too fast. I have to distract this guy,_' thought Henry as he hit a switch, detaching the right Kerberos. The cannon fell into the path of the ZAFT Gundam as it swung its beam saber again.

The beam saber cut through the cannon halfway before the weapon exploded in a fireball. The bright light blinded both pilots, but that didn't stop Henry. He aimed the rifle from the memory of the mobile suit's position.

He fired as the light began to fade and a shadow of a charging Gundam appeared. The beam flew, grazing the mobile suit's thrusters. But damaged thrusters didn't stop the Gundam's attack, the mobile suit swinging its physical sword which sliced off the barrel of the rifle.

The Gundam passed and Henry quickly discarded the ruined rifle, pulled out the beam pistols, closed the full shield, brought up the Deluge railguns, and spun to face his enemy.

Apparently the enemy Gundam had a similar idea, its sword stowed away, the barrels of its beam pistol and Gatling cannons staring down on the Courage, and its arm mounted energy shield guarding its body.

It was an old fashioned Mexican standoff.

'_This is not good. If it comes to a shootout like this I don't want to test how long my full shield lasts against that energy shield._'

"_Omega Dogma activated,"_ stated a computerized voice over the radio, causing Henry eye's to widen in alarm. _"Initiating in thirty seconds."_

'_Not Good!! I have to finish this._' It was a long shot but it would buy him the time he needed. Using the AMBAC system to its fullest capabilities Henry maneuvered the Courage ever so subtly, aiming the railguns. '_One shot,_' the railguns fired, the solid projectiles shooting just above the energy shield, striking the mobile suit in one of the few places not protected by Phase Shift. The Gatling cannons.

The projectiles mangled and tossed the mobile suit but no explosions. The pilot managed to keep the shield in a place where it could protect the cockpit but that wasn't Henry's concern.

Activating the Mirage Colloid, Henry took off, pushing the thrusters for all they were worth and hoping that the heat of all the battles warmed up the area enough that any leaking heat wouldn't attract attention.

The enemy Gundam looked like it would have tried following in the direction the Courage flew off in, but it hesitated and flew away towards its own forces.

'_ZAFT must have found out about the Omega Dogma._' thought Henry has he went off in search of the _Early Harvest_. '_I pray that all our people got out in time._'

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: Tellemicus Sundance

_**Early Harvest**_

"We've lost another three mobile suits," Yachi said, distress thick in his voice. They had already lost little more than twenty-five of their pilots, as well as there still being around fifty adults and at least a dozen or two children of the pirates who were trapped inside the colony housing area. "Six ZAKUs approaching from starboard-bow! Two _Nazca_ approaching from portside, and a _Laurasia_ from starboard!"

"Swing to port thirty!" Brimfield called out. "Activate the Amano Heki; prepare to fire Lohengrin Two, target the starboard _Nazca_; launch Dispar missiles to provide cover for the _Late Autumn!_"

The battle outside was beginning to really wear on the pirates. They'd just finished evacuating the factory district and met up with their new sister ship and her escorts. At first the ZAFT forces had attempted to prevent them from grouping together, but then suddenly changed tactics. Brimfield could fully understand why: the commander wanted to destroy both ships at once, which would likely be easier when they were bunched up together, blocking their fields of fire.

As far as the mobile suit battle was going, the pirates were notably taking quite a beating despite being numerically superior to their attackers. Having started out with easily four dozen mobile suits, they were now reduced to almost half that number; quite a humbling experience for the pirate pilots who prided themselves on being former elites of ZAFT or the Earth Forces.

"Captain!" Yachi called over. "Detecting surging heat levels from Mathilde! The command center is issuing an Omega Dogma that—"

"Recall all mobile suits!" Brimfield yelled out, an edge of panic in his tone. "Swing to starboard ninety, boost engines to _maximum_ thrust! Get us as _far_ away from the colony as possible! Relay the same orders to the _Autumn!_" There was only a split second of hesitation among his bridge crew before they quickly leapt to obey the orders.

Outside, there was a quick response as the colony mobile suits suddenly broke off from the battle and began landing on the two ships' hulls. Believing that the pirates were making their last stand, the ZAFT forces immediately began sending a massive barrage of missiles and high-energy beams, attempting to shred through their defenses. And quite a few of those missiles and beams were able to punch through the increased defenses of the two ships, shaking them violently as their hulls began weakening from the beating. Had that pummeling continued as such, the ZAFT forces would've most certainly won.

However, both pirate ships suddenly activated their beam shields to protect their forces as they turned and blasted off away from the colony at the maximum speeds that their engines could allow, passing through the ZAFT fleet easily. The ZAFT fleet was quickly attempting to follow after their obviously retreating prey. Victory was within their grasp if they were finally running!

Mere moments after they'd managed to clear the debris belt of the colony, cracks began forming along the colony asteroid's exterior. Heat and energy levels began rising at tremendous levels. Caught by surprise, none of the ZAFT ships were prepared when several blinding and massive nuclear explosions suddenly tore through the colony, near-instantly incinerating the seventy men, women, and children who had been unfortunate enough to be trapped upon it.

The two pirate ships and their mobile suits clinging to their hulls, protected under the veils of their Amano Heki shields, were the only ones that managed to flee the scene without sustaining near-critical damage. In fact, all but one _Laurasia_-class ZAFT warship was torn apart by the raw energy and superheated debris that the colony was quickly reduced to. Only a few of the ZAFT mobile suits, including all three Gundams (thanks to their own energy shields) survived the blasts and following debris shower.

The Mathilde Colony was no more.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**)

Whew, that chapter was one heck of a pain. I hope that this baby lives up to all your expectations, especially given just how long it's taken us to finish it! And a massive thank you to my friends (**animefan29** and **FictionReader98**) for their individual works on this chapter. I can _guarantee_ that without them, this chapter/battle would _**NOT**_ have turned out nearly as good as it has.

Omega Dogma is a special program that was installed by Professor K for Captain Brimfield several years ago. It is an emergency system meant to protect the crew of the _Early Harvest_ on the chance that the Mathilde Colony should ever be captured by forces that weren't friendly towards them. In the event of such an occasion, the program monitors the entire colony for any sign of the crew that remain aboard the colony and the circumstances as to why and how. Should the enemy be successful in forcing them to abandon the colony, the Omega Dogma will not only purge its entire network of all data within its records, it will also initiate a self-destruct of the ammunition stores that the pirates had gathered. Had this self-destruct been used with their common stores of energy cells and mobile suit ammunition, it would've only caused a _relatively_ small explosion in the secure holding cells of the factory district. But because of the pirates' raid on the lunar base, the seven remaining nuclear missiles they had left were also triggered, hence the colony's destruction.

Amano Heki—Heavenly Barrier, name of the _Early Harvest_ and _Late Autumn_'s beam shield systems which were developed by Professor K shortly after Akira's departure. It is based on the mono-lightwave barrier used by the Eurasian base of Artemis.

**LAMS-07 Hizack** (based on the RMS-106 Hizack)  
Unit type: limited production, general-purpose mobile suit  
Model Number: LAMS-07, _L__ate __A__utumn _Mobile Suit-design 07  
Manufacturer: _Late Autumn_, _Early Harvest_, Mathilde Colony  
First deployment: January 27, 74 CE (Operation Harvest Reapers)  
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery  
Color: dark orange (torso), orange (limbs, headpiece)  
Equipment and design features:  
Mirage Colloid  
Sensors, range unknown  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, mounted in chest  
1 x shield, mounted on either forearm  
2 x dual beam claw, mounted on forearms  
1 x MA-M35G high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist  
1 x ES04B beam saber, stored in shin armor  
Optional armaments:  
1 x M1500 "Orthros" high-energy long-range beam cannon  
2 x "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword  
1 x "Geschmeidig Panzer" energy deflection shield  
2 x MA-80V DRAGOON assault beam cannons, stored on shoulders  
_Reference link for the Hizack_—www(.)mahq(.)net/mecha/gundam/z/rms-106(.)htm

**ZGMF-X44S** _classified_ (FictionReader98's concept)  
Manufacturer: ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty)  
Operator: ZAFT, classified  
First deployment: January 27, 74 CE (Operation Harvest Reapers)  
Powerplant: ultracompact hyper-deuterion nuclear reactor  
Color: Black (chest, forearms), yellow (abdomen, highlights), white (body)  
Equipment and design features:  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Phase Shield, mounted on left arm  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU26 17.5mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head  
2 x MMI-M850 "Mini-Hydra" Gatling beam cannon, mounted in hidden shoulder compartments  
1 x M2000GX high-energy long-range beam cannon, stored on back  
1 x beam absorption Phase Shield, mounted on left wrist  
1 x "Exia" 10.34m Phase Shift switchblade sword and beam pistol, mounted on right forearm  
1 x MX2351 "Solidus Fulgor" beam shield generator, mounted on right wrists  
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hips  
1 x MA-BAR73/S high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist


	26. Return of the Pseudo Songstress

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 26: Return of the Pseudo-Songstress_

**January 31, 74 CE  
****ZAFT Gibraltar Base, Spain  
****9:43am**

After what had seemed like an immensely long time ago, the _Minerva_ finally reached the docks of Gibraltar. A good number of the crewmembers let loose small sighs of relief as they felt the engines slowly power down and the ship settled down in its place in the water.

As various mechanics and crewmen went about their tasks of properly securing and stabilizing the warship's internal systems as they slowly died down, the mobile suit pilots of the ship stood within the lounge as they patiently awaited the order for permission to disembark.

Though not a word was spoken between them, there was an almost palpable tension hanging over all of them due to the presence of one of them. Heine was leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed as he stared off into space near the lounge door. Athrun was silently sipping a cup of coffee as he stared yearningly at a feed from one of the exterior cameras, watching the activities of the personnel as they linked the _Minerva_ into position in the port. Lunamaria was perhaps the most relaxed of the group, lounging back in her chair with her feet propped up on the tabletop, a rather blatant disregard for regulations but none of her companions had the interest or felt the need to enforce the military standards to correct her. Rey was sitting over near the far corner reading some novel, though none of his companions could see the title of the book he held. And Shinn sat on the couch, leaning over the table as he reviewed the recorded battle of his defeat against the GOUF on his laptop with a deadly concentration in his red eyes.

"Hey, Shinn," Luna said, glancing over at the younger pilot. He didn't even raise his gaze from the monitor, which slightly irked her. "Are you still moping over that battle? Get over it already, it was draw after all."

"…No it wasn't," Shinn said quietly, distractedly. "…I'm not moping."

Snorting quietly, Luna glanced over her companions. Athrun and Heine seemed to be off in their own little worlds while Rey had merely glanced in her direction when she'd spoken up. "What're you gonna do when we can disembark? Gonna go disappear on us again?"

Shinn didn't seem to hear her as his gaze was now solely focused upon a certain portion of the battle-feed he was watching.

"You're about as exciting as a box of nails," Luna grumbled, wishing that some of her other friends and crewmembers could've gotten a few minutes of free time so she could have a good conversation with someone.

Glancing over at her companions again, Luna noticed that she'd gotten Heine's attention. And upon seeing his slightly raised eyebrow, a sudden devious idea struck her. Crossing her legs and settling into a slightly more 'sexy' slouch in her chair, she pitched her voice to that of reluctant resignation as she said, "That's such a shame. I was hoping that you'd be up for some steamy sex after we disembarked, but I guess not."

It took exactly seven point three four seconds for her words to filter through Shinn's mind, for comprehension to the words' meanings to click within his one-track mind, and for him to reflexively jolt around as he immediately turned to stare at his fellow Red with wide eyes and begin sputtering confused, questioning, and indignant noises. Heine merely raised his hand to his face in order to hide the smirk that had appeared. Poor Athrun had been in the middle of taking another sip and ended up blowing a whole mouthful of air into his drink, spilling it over his hand and soaking a good portion of his uniform. Rey had just sent another glance at her before returning to his book.

Unable to help herself, Luna let loose a loud stream of laughter at her companions' expenses. That couldn't have worked out any better than if she'd planned it out beforehand! And she was still quietly laughing even several minutes later when all five of them finally made their way to the _Minerva_'s exit.

As she was waiting for her sister to catch up to her at the exit, Luna noticed that there seemed to be an unusually large crowd of people gathered around one of the closer mobile suit hangars. Focusing upon the scene more carefully, Luna felt a sense of déjà vu as she spotted a semi-familiar mass of long pink hair on a woman who stood at the front of the crowd. The only thing missing was that there was no loud singing, music, or excited cheers floating through the air.

"Is that who I think it is…?" she asked loudly, drawing her companions' attentions over towards what had captured her interest.

"I do believe that it is," Heine observed, he had the best eyesight among them by far. "She must've been rescued recently; I haven't heard anything about this."

Looking over at Athrun's expression, Luna noticed that he was every bit as surprised as the rest of them and she was also sure that she'd seen a small amount of relief and confusion filter through his gaze as well.

"Hey, sis," a familiar voice called from behind her, distracting Luna from her observations on her former Combat Commander. "What're you staring at? Hey, is that—?!"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Aprillis 1, PLANTs**

It was with a deep frown that he read through the report that had been presented to him only a few minutes earlier. It unsettled him quite a bit, especially considering he'd sent a fleet that frankly should've been more than just a little excessive firepower to accomplish its mission than anything else. How exactly was this possible? Of the five ships and almost three dozen mobile suits he'd sent to handle the pirate colony, only a single _Laurasia_, two ZAKUs, and most importantly of all the three new Gundam models had managed to survive the battle. And even then all of them had received some fairly intense damage!

When Captain Hajime Yatate had mentioned the existence of three pirate Gundams and their relative combat strengths, along with their usage of Mirage Colloid, Durandal knew that he couldn't allow these men to continue to produce such machines unopposed. Even if they hadn't produced these so-called 'X-units', he'd have ordered an attack on them regardless. The recent uprisings in pirate attacks would've been the perfect cover-up story as he sent his forces to eliminate the one pirate faction that he now knew had direct ties to unleashing the Neo Freedom and Akira Iyadomi, and unintentionally threatening his entire plan.

In fact, the reason he'd decided to send such a large force to deal with these pirates was because of the fact that he now knew they had been the ones to recover and train Akira Iyadomi after the Second Battle of Jachin Due. If their combat training regime could produce a pilot of Iyadomi's caliber in less than two years, then what did that say about their more experienced pilots who'd been in the group even longer? If they'd ever decided to interfere or resist him when he finally introduced his true plans to the world, it would predictably be no simple matter of…correcting them. He needed to cut them off now before they could potentially grow even stronger. But the result of the battle was still surprising, even to him.

Although they had sustained heavy losses of their own, including several dozens of their mobile suits and the colony itself destroyed, the pirates and their Gundams had survived the battle. However, this was thanks to the pirates possessing several new weapons and technology that his forces had been unaware of. Lightwave barriers that protected their warships, Mirage Colloid upon each of their machines, acquiring a _Nazca_ warship to add to their forces, five new formidable mobile suits that were clearly based off some of ZAFT's very own rejected designs, and most startling of all nuclear warheads! Just how well connected or skillful were these pirates to have acquired or produced such weapons as nuclear warheads and acquiring secret mobile suit data without anyone having noticed? The threat levels of these '_Early Harvest_ pirates' had just taken a _substantially_ great spike upwards.

But what had irritated Durandal the most was learning of the damage inflicted upon his own Gundam units as they had fought against the pirates' X-units. He had originally decided to send his new Gundam models along with the mission so that they could be given a field test against a respectably strong enemy before he delivered them to their pilots. They were merely there to keep the X-units occupied and then to help his ZAFT forces capture or destroy them once the colony itself had fallen. And even though their current pilots were certainly skillful, they just weren't quite in the same league as the pilots for which those machines were meant for. But regardless of that, there should've been a critical difference in battle strengths between the pirate Gundams and his.

Returning his attentions to the monitor in front of him, he called up the recorded images of the battle. From the Legend's point of view, he watched as an orange and yellow striped machine that was clearly based on the Savior Gundam came racing forward and recklessly crashing into the Destiny's energy shield with its own physical shield. The Destiny had fought against a machine that was clearly taken after the Sword Impulse and fought in a fairly unorthodox manner, not necessarily relying upon its weapons. And the pilot of that sniper/artillery Gundam was clearly a former professional soldier, given just how precise and fluid his attacks and strategies were during the battle.

Information was the lifeblood of war, and clearly his forces had been sorely lacking of it in this operation. Information upon these formidable X-unit pilots would've been a blessing indeed! The only things that Captain Yatate had been able to give him was that everyone in the pirate faction used codenames and that many of them were defectors of both ZAFT and the EF from before or during the First Valentine War.

And while that information was certainly enlightening, it didn't answer one critical question: how did the pirates acquire the data for the Savior and Impulse Gundams? The most logical answers were that they had observed the Gundams in their respective battles since their deployment and built machines based off their appearances and abilities. Even though that thought could easily be used to explain the X-units' designs, it failed to explain those five new mobile suits they'd used. The only logical answer for those, however unlikely it could possibly be, was that the pirates had somehow hacked into ZAFT's most top secret database networks and stolen the Hizack plans, all without being detected or traced whatsoever.

Yes, these _Early Harvesters_ could've become a very dangerous enemy when he tried to enforce his ultimate plans. But now that they no longer had that colony or factory to use, they were nowhere near as dangerous. Oh, they could certainly still possess several new weapons onboard their warships that he wasn't aware of yet and for that reason ZAFT would continue to hunt for them. But it was now only a matter of time before they were hunted down and destroyed.

"Mister Chairman!" a voice called over the intercom, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, trying to keep his irritation at the interruption from showing in his voice.

"Please turn your monitor onto the international news channel! Something's happening!" There was a peculiar hint of excitement in his secretary's voice, sparking Durandal's interest as he decided to comply with the request.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Terminal Earth-based HQ, Orb territory**

"—and even Athrun had been a very good friend of mine," the brown-haired boy on the monitor said quietly, looking very saddened yet resolutely determined.

"Athrun?" the pink-haired beauty that was floating near him asked, a strange hint of some emotion within her voice as she uttered the name.

"Athrun Zala," the boy clarified.

"How much longer are you going to watch those?" a loud voice asked from behind him, interrupting the slight stupor that he'd unknowingly fallen into.

Turning back to glance at the long-haired blonde who was sitting up in his own bed, Akira let a small smirk cross his face as he saw the slightly annoyed look in the man's eye. "Not much longer actually. I was actually going to turn it off in a short while anyway; I'm bored."

The man, whom Akira learned was named Captain Neo Roanoke, just glanced away with a slight sigh of annoyance. "You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble if you do what I think you're going to do."

Just staring at the man for a brief moment, Akira finally said, "I'm really that obvious? Hm…well, no one else seems to have caught on just yet."

"That's because they think you're someone else," Neo muttered bitterly, mostly because he was receiving the same treatment.

"Maybe," Akira acknowledged quietly, his thoughts shifting back to the _Archangel_'s security footage that he'd accidentally discovered a few short days ago. "but you can't blame them for wanting their old friends and comrades to come back to them, can you?"

Neo glanced over at Akira for a moment, his gaze clearly contemplative. But when he heard an audible _click,_ he let out a low grunt and turned his attention back to his own monitor which was showing the latest world news.

Hands finally free of the handcuffs, Akira easily withdrew the small metal fragment he'd taken from Neo Freedom's wreckage and gently hid it back inside his pants pocket. _Thanks for teaching me that trick, Captain Brimfield_. It was quite easy for him to now unbuckle the leather straps that bound him to the bed, as ordered by Lady Cagalli who had lived up to her promise of shackling him down if necessary.

Standing up and stretching his aching body tentatively, he fought back a slight wince as a jolt of pain shot through his backside. It may have been only a short while ago, but he was still far too injured to do any strenuous activities for a few more weeks.

"I'm going to the cafeteria," he announced as he headed for the door. "Would you like me to get you anything while I'm there, Captain?"

"A bottle of water would be nice," Neo admitted quietly, his gaze not wavering from the monitor.

Nodding despite the man not seeing it, Akira left the room and carefully stalked down the hallways. Unlike the last few times that he'd been down these halls, there was quite a bit more activity going on in them. Various uniformed personnel were walking down the halls, some of them were rushing through the halls in a hurry to complete a necessary task while others were moving at an unhurried pace. Dressed in a spare uniform that Cagalli had supplied for him, Akira did his best to remain as unobtrusive in the crowd as he could, a special trick he'd picked up while he was traveling around Earth. And in no time he'd reached the cafeteria and ordered a small meal of beef sandwiches and potato salad.

Just as he was about to start eating, a semi-familiar young woman with golden-brown hair slid into the seat opposite of the one he was sitting at, causing alarms to sound loudly in his mind. Had he been found out already? Glancing up at the girl's bright eyes, he quickly felt yet another annoying flash of déjà vu as he recognized her as the young woman from the CIC (both from the _Archangel_'s recordings and from his brief visit to the bridge with Cagalli not too long ago).

"Getting into trouble a little early today, aren't we, Kira?" Miriallia asked with a slight smirk on her face.

"Trouble? No way," Akira said, a small but devious grin growing on his face. "You're only in _trouble_ if you get _caught_."

It happened so fast. Just as those words had left his mouth, he caught a slight flicker in Miriallia's gaze to behind and above him. Before he could do little more than wonder what she was looking at, he felt the sudden arrival of a large and _extremely_ dangerous presence looming over him, filled with righteous rage.

"_Kira!_" Cagalli yelled, latching onto his earlobe and yanking him backwards at a sharp angle so that he was staring up at her face.

"I'm in trouble," he managed to utter before Cagalli began lighting into him with all the ferocity she was known for.

"What are you doing here?" Cagalli demanded hotly. Without even waiting for an answer, she continued on. "You're supposed to be in the Infirmary recovering! You're not in any condition to be out and moving. How did you escape this time?! I swear, if you do this again, I'm going to post guards outside that doorway to make sure you don't get out again!"

Akira didn't answer verbally, but he couldn't break free of her grip either. His gaze flickered down to the table where he stared longingly at the meal that was resting temptingly in front of him. He couldn't help but wince noticeably as Cagalli gave his earlobe an especially vicious squeeze to regain his attention. Who knew Cagalli had such a vicious grip when she wanted to use it…? Okay, maybe that should've been obvious, _but still!_

Miriallia just watched the interaction between her long-lost friend and his sister with a wide smile, barely able to keep her quiet laughter from escaping. It was nice to have Kira back with them and she couldn't help but hope that he stayed with them for good this time.

Cagalli's rant was silenced by the sudden projections of a startlingly familiar voice through the warship's intercom. A voice that had Akira immediately breaking free of Cagalli's vice grip and heading to the nearest wall terminal and hacking into its systems for a visual.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**ZAFT Gibraltar Base, Spain  
****9:45am**

Fears and emotions that she hadn't felt since the time of her kidnapping now were flooding through Meer as she stood in front of a massive crowd. It would not have been an understatement to say that the entire base had been gathered out in front of the platform to watch and hear what she had to say. There were thousands of blinding camera flashes, several dozens of news crews and camcorders, and several thousands of people surrounding her. It took a lot of effort in order to keep herself composed and playing her old role as Lacus Clyne.

The last time she'd been in this position, she'd been overwhelmed by feelings of pure ecstasy because her dream had finally come true. She had finally become the singer and star that she'd always wanted to be, people were finally paying real attention to her! She had been making a difference in the war because people were listening to her, taking her words to heart. The Chairman and her helpers had been correct; she truly had _become_ Lacus Clyne.

But this time was different, _very_ different. This time, she had no prepared speech. This time, she had no scheduled performance which she had been practicing several days to do. This time, she had no real intention of singing. This time, she wasn't the visiting superstar but a runaway captive. This time, she really couldn't generate the strength necessary to even smile at the crowds that stood before her.

But despite those differences, there was something else…different. She couldn't really put her finger onto what it was, but something had changed in the atmosphere that was surrounding the entire ZAFT base and its personnel, something…dangerous. Something that she had likely not to have noticed if she hadn't been kidnapped and forced to consider options and questions that she'd have otherwise thought ridiculous.

With these thoughts, questions, and fears at the forefront of her mind, Meer stepped forward to begin her first true speech. A speech that she had created of her own free will and that no one else had even looked at or over to make corrections. If nothing else she did in this war or in her life, this speech was going to _hers_ for all eternity.

"Hello my friends, I have returned," she called out in the microphone she wore clipped to her left ear as she waved her hand slightly. "I know that many of you have been deeply worried about me. Thank you, all of you, for your concern and I am sorry for worrying you. I assure you that I was being kept safe and unharmed after I'd been taken by Akira Iyadomi, pilot of the Freedom. Though it was only recently that I've managed to escape and return."

Taking a small pause to gather her thoughts, Meer also took a slight breath. What she was about to say would most likely have a fairly significant impact upon many peoples' opinions of the deceased enigmatic pilot.

"I spent a considerable amount of time with him and I believe that I've come to understand just why he had fought. He hated fighting and violence, and he did his best to end this war without being drafted into one of the militaries. And I know there are those who claimed to fight in his name, the Hands of Freedom, but they weren't. They are just using his name as an excuse for violence against those they view as the enemy. Akira sought only to prevent loss of as many lives as possible and to end the war peacefully. And above all else, he fought alone. He never had any connection to the Hands beyond trying to stop their assaults."

It wasn't entirely a fake sigh of resignation as she prepared to continue. "I'm sure that every one of us could find it in our hearts to not condemn him for attempting to bring peace, even if his methods were a bit unorthodox. And I do mourn his loss at the Battle of Berlin. But, for one, I am very grateful for his courage to stand up to any entire army alone in order to protect the lives of so many innocent men, women, and children. This world would be a much kinder place if we could all possess such courage and determination, I know it."

Clasping her hands as a smile found its way onto her face, Meer finally reached the epilogue of her speech. "Please, everyone, let us never forget Akira Iyadomi. For he has shown to us how the actions of one person can shift the difference between life and death, from defeat to victory. And with the courage and persistence that he has shown me, I hope to honor his memory by finishing what he failed to accomplish. Please everyone, let us bring a quick end to this war and allow peace to return to our world once again."

There came a thunderous applause from the gathered crowd. Some of them were cheering as loudly as they could for their returned idol. Many were clearly thinking over the various statements she'd made in her speech, but they still clapped politely to show their appreciation. Meer managed to work up the strength for a small smile as she raised one of her hands in a bid for silence.

"I'll take any questions for you at this time," she said in a firm, if slightly quiet, voice.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**Terminal Base, Orb territory  
10:00am**

As Lacus' double continued her speech on live television, Cagalli's gaze was focused upon her long-lost brother. A variety of emotions flashed across his face as he watched and listened intently to the young woman's speech. There was anger, surprise, fear, and anxiety before finally settling into a cold determination that she'd only seen on his face when he was going to go into combat.

"Kira?" she asked quietly.

Tearing his gaze from the monitor, he focused upon her for a moment before his eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "Miss Cagalli, there are lives in danger. I need to borrow a high-speed machine, _right now!_"

* * *

**(Author's Note) **I'd like to thank **Akatsuki Leader13** and **Maileesǽya** for helping me get ideas for Meer's speech and reviewing it, respectively. Thanks guys, you have no idea just how annoying it was to not be able to think anything for that scene. Public speaking has _never_ been a strength of mine.

As several of you probably know, I recently started a new story. Please understand that that does not mean I'm going to abandon this story. I will admit that my inspiration for this story has been slipping lately, but unlike most of my other stories I actually have a very good idea of what I want to happen in this story and how to make it happen. That being said, I really need is more of your wonderful reviews to work up the needed motivation to finish this sweetie.


	27. Wounds of the Heart

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Phase 27: Wounds of the Heart_

**January 31, 74 CE  
Terminal HQ, Orb  
11:42pm**

It was a tough job, but he'd finally managed to get away. Despite carefully explaining the circumstances to her, Captain Ramius, and several other high Orb officers, none of them seemed willing to allow him to depart. They understood his desire to find and protect his friends, but they argued that he'd never reach them in time and that he was still too injured to have been much help even if he did make it to them.

Very good points, but Lady Cagalli seemed to have noticed that unwavering determination in his eye as he was returned to the infirmary. This time she'd taken measures to keep him locked up almost to the extremes. And even though he no longer had the Neo Freedom, or any machine for that matter, Akira still felt an overwhelming _need_. He might still be injured and quite powerless, but his friends were in danger because of him. He could feel it in his gut, and he'd never forgive himself for not even _attempting_ to help them! He may have been powerless without a Gundam, but he still wanted—_needed_—to do something!

After they'd arrived at their secret factory and base, he and Captain Roanoke had been moved to a more comfortable infirmary. But while they were there, Akira was once again strapped and handcuffed to the bed frame, had video surveillance watching his every move, and even guards posted outside the doorway to make sure he didn't manage to escape again.

But he did anyway (much to Captain Roanoke's amusement and annoyance) through the ventilation ducts. It was hard to move through them and not make too much noise, and several times he was sure that someone had noticed his disappearance. Using what little knowledge he had the facility's layout, he had slowly worked his way towards where he believed the mobile weapons hangars were.

Spotting a vent up ahead, Akira slowly and carefully worked his way towards it. With a careful application of weight, pressure, and speed, he was able to creep through the dusty vents with only a few quiet thuds to mark his presence. Reaching the vent, he gently bent one of the metal bars downward to allow him to peer through it. A small smile of relief crept over his face as he realized that his gut instinct had been correct, the room outside was definitely some kind of mobile suit hangar.

Listening carefully, he let out a sigh of relief when he realized no one seemed to be in the hangar or at least he couldn't hear them. Taking a risk, he angled his body around and kicked out at the vent, knocking the weak bolts clean out of their fastenings to the wall. Quickly as he could, he reached forward and caught the falling grate before it could make loud crash to the floor and alert anyone in the hangar of his presence.

Sliding out and placing the vent grate back into its former position, he moved through the shadows of the hangar, gazing up at the mighty behemoths that stood in the facility. There were at least half a dozen machines, all in various stages of production. Some were little more than armor shells, others had the basic body frame and circuitry but lacked the armor, and the rest were simply missing entire limbs or weaponry.

'_I can't use __**any**__ of these!_' he thought, scowling angrily.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to show up," a quiet voice spoke up from behind him, causing Akira to immediately freeze. "Don't act so surprised, Mr. Iyadomi, it was inevitable you would show up here."

Turning around, he spotted that the person who'd found him was none other than Captain Murrue Ramius herself. She had a small but knowing smile on her face as she watched him face her. Despite his cool expression, there was a certain deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes that she recognized all-too-easily.

"You're as stubborn and headstrong as you always were," she said quietly before beckoning him towards her. "But maybe we can channel it better this time. Follow me, please."

He had been caught in the act, so Akira let out a sigh of disappointment as he walked after the brunette Captain. But rather than walk back towards the infirmary, she headed even deeper into the hangar, towards a small doorway in the far corner that he hadn't noticed. The other side of the doorway was pitch black, the only source of light coming through the doorway itself.

Once he had joined her inside, Murrue closed the door and hit a light switch. It took just a moment for his eyes to readjust to the bright lights that suddenly lit up the room. But when he lowered his arm, he instantly spotted the familiar form of a mobile suit. No wait, it was a Gundam!

Its limbs were slightly trimmer than most Gundams and mobile suits he'd ever seen, which hinted to it being a high-speed machine. And there were not only a distinctive pair of triangular wing-like structures mounted upon its backside or shoulders, but also a pair of large fins to its shins that almost looked like wings as well. It didn't _look_ like it would fare too well in close-quarters to Akira. Was this a transformable Gundam? It didn't seem to have much in terms of obvious weaponry, save perhaps the large anti-warship sword upon its back between the wings and the pair of beam sabers mounted on the sides of its shins.

"While I'm afraid that we don't have a Gundam to give you right now," Murrue said as she moved up beside him, gazing up the large machine. "We can loan you this one. It was originally intended to be Lieutenant Koenig's next machine, but he's…presently unavailable to use it."

"But…" Looking over at the woman with uncertainty, he asked, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I know something about the very core of your nature," Murrue said, turning to give Akira a firm gaze. "Whether as Akira Iyadomi or Kira Yamato, you have always held the safety of others above your own. That is why I know you will never stop trying to escape us until you do something to help while you can."

That statement caused a very uncomfortable feeling to settle into the pits of his stomach for some reason. Not knowing what to say in reply, he just returned his attention back to studying the machine in front of him.

"I don't know what you plan to do or where you plan to go," Murrue continued quietly as she too returned her attention to the Gundam in front of them. "But I would like to make a request of you before you leave… Think of it as an optional mission for you to undertake for us when you have the opportunity."

"What is it?" he asked, somewhat curious as to what kind of mission the _Archangel_ Captain would want to assign to him.

"Rescue Lieutenant Tolle Koenig from Gibraltar," she said quietly.

Whatever mission he might've thought it was, it certainly wasn't that.

A short while later, he sat in the Orb Gundam dressed in a common ZAFT green pilot suit that Murrue had supplied for him, along with a green dress uniform bundled at his feet. As he booted up the CPU, he read the name and G.U.N.D.A.M. acronym of the start-up screen.

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
//MVF-X30F – Karai//  
G**unnery  
**U**pdated  
**N**uclear-  
**D**euterion  
**A**erodynamic  
**M**achine  
**G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System**

Using the codes that Murrue had assured him would work, he moved the orange and white Gundam onto the catapult and prepared to launch.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**February 4, 74 CE  
**_**Heaven's Fortune**_**, Lagrange 4  
10:04pm**

To call the privately-owned space station _Heaven's Fortune_ an old, clunky piece of floating scrap metal would've been a grave overstatement and an insult to the most modern stations that were currently in orbit. _Heaven's Fortune_ had actually been one of the original colonies to have ever been designed and built upon an asteroid, just a few years prior to the beginning of the Cosmic Era. And though it was officially owned by a fairly wealthy South Africa Union citizen, it was actually used as semi-secret black market and hideout for criminals and pirates. Both ZAFT and the Earth Forces allowed this because they figured it was easier to monitor a known underworld base than it was to search for its replacement if they destroyed it.

However, despite being a black market station, there were a lot of strict rules and laws that all visitors and colonists had to abide by. This was to prevent fights from breaking out between two or more rivaling pirate or underworld factions, which usually resulted in very expensive collateral damage upon the colony itself. Thus all weapons were strictly forbidden upon the station, having to be left aboard their ships for the duration of their stay. And while it was closely monitored and discouraged, sabotage or theft of another's ship was an unlikely occurrence. This was due to the fact that _Heaven's Fortune_ was of an inferior and outdated design, and an exploding vessel in the harbor could spell catastrophic damage and doom to the station and all its residents within.

And the station certainly showed its age in many obvious ways, like the rusty or twisted metal that was littered throughout its structure. There was hideous smelling smog that filled the air and hung over the buildings like a gray cloud. But perhaps the most obvious of all was just how filthy the entire station was, littered with garbage of all kinds that would've given most custodians nightmares.

It took a new kind of courage to even enter the station, doubly so without wearing a spacesuit. But that's what Captain Brimfield did, walking down one of the streets towards one of the few bars that weren't a _complete_ dump like the rest of the station. Behind him were two of his crewmembers, acting as bodyguards and lookouts as he entered into the Black Hole Bar & Grill establishment.

Walking smoothly up to the counter, he took a seat and patiently waited, ignoring the bartender. It took only a few minutes before the woman he was waiting for finally noticed his presence from the corner booth that she was slouching in, idly smoking a cigar that would've made most men choke.

"Hey there sweetie," Amelia Hord said in a sultry voice as she seemed to suddenly appear out of thin air. Her dainty fingers started tracing patterns over Jonas' jacket, just barely firm enough to be felt through the fabric. "How'd you like me to show a little piece of heaven?"

"In a little while, perhaps," Brimfield remarked idly, not seeming to care that the woman was rubbing up against him in ways that would've made most other men quite uncomfortable, in various ways. "I need to have a chat with someone important, but the fool hasn't shown up yet."

"Is it very important?" the dark-haired lady asked, her tone of voice and posture seeming to radiate that whatever his answer might've been, it couldn't be more important than what she wanted.

"Extremely."

"You're far too tense, Mr. Muscle-man," Amelia cooed, suddenly hoisting him up to his feet with a strength that belied her petite frame. "You can't go into a meeting as a bundle of nerves. Here, I know the perfect way to loosen you up and it'll only take a few minutes. I'm sure your friend will understand."

While their captain was being pulled reluctantly down the corridor to the backrooms, the two EH escorts had seated themselves at one of the tables.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Outside _Heaven's Fortune_, a small ZAFT fleet of two _Laurasia_-class and a _Nazca_ were steadily approaching. The only thing preventing many of the pirate factions who were nestled into the harbor of the space station from fleeing was the fact that the ZAFT vessels were following all the procedures necessary to dock with the station for maintenance and refueling.

The commander of the _Nazca_, Aleron Delahaye, watched over the proceeding with the eyes of a hawk. If his assumption was correct, then he was most likely right on course for where his prey had fled. Finally, after almost three years of festering hatred and disgust, he was going to pay those disgraceful, Natural-loving fools back.

Oh yes, he'd destroy them with glee the first chance he got!

But first things first, he needed to verify that they were even here. The most likely places were the harbor and the closest bars to the harbor. It was a common habit for visiting pirates and outlaws to drown themselves in countless kegs of alcohol, and his prey was no exception from this habit. A few squads of soldiers to patrol the interior and one to locate the ship would have to suffice for the search since any more would spark complete chaos.

Even before his fleet had fully docked into the harbor, he'd already started barking out the necessary orders to his crewmen.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA  
By: FictionReader98

Things were quiet onboard the _Early Harvest _as the surviving pirates were taking this opportunity to relax from recent events.

"YOU DID IT AGAIN, YOU INGRATE!!!"

The crew groaned as that nice tranquil peace was now shattered as they all moved away from the source of the irritated voice, not wanting to get caught up in it as they all recognized as Professor K. That was one of the basic rules of being part of the group: when she was on the warpath, get as far away as you could.

The redhead was not easily angered since she knew full well that battle was often chaotic and hazardous, so it was only natural that things would break down or get lost in the process requiring repair or replacement. Except in the case of this arrogant hothead!

"'Ingrate' is a very unfair term," Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen pleaded mildly. He was in his usual attire though this time he had a baseball cap on, covering the bandages around his head from the head injury he received in the fighting.

Both of them were in the _Early Harvest's _loading bay. After he had been discharged from the infirmary, he had made his way down to the bay to look over the Honor to see just how damaged it had been. Unfortunately for him, Professor K was already there looking over the three EH Gundams from the last battle. He attempted to make a swift retreat when she caught sight of him and proceeded to blow his eardrums out.

"Do you know how much _equipment _you threw away during the last fight!? And how much of a pain it is to replace it!?" She didn't bother mentioning that with the colony gone, their means to repair or replacement anything was severely limited. "AGAIN!?"

"The beam boomerangsare _meant_ to be expandable…"

"You lost your rifle!"

"I got snuck up on! It's not easy fighting three Gundams at once!"

"One of your combat knives is gone!"

"I still have both my beam sabers…"

"And you threw away your shield _again _for some decoy trick!"

"Hey, that shield trick works!"

"You lost _one of your Claymore blades!"_

"I got shot down!" The pirate reminded her, feeling very much like a student explaining why he didn't do his homework. "It's not like I wanted to lose _that!_"

Professor K just blew out air through her nose attempted to calm down. She had been like this after the Blood Fin raid. Not so much that he lost equipment, but _how_ he lost them. K didn't approve of his fighting methods. Losing a shield to an enemy, she could understand. Using the shield as a decoy to get to the enemy she didn't. She just rubbed the side of her forehead with a pained expression on her face. "There are times I wonder why you were given that Gundam."

Dalen felt his mood darken a bit. "Excuse me; I didn't _want _to pilot it in the first place. Captain ordered it. You want to get someone else to pilot it, be my guest."

K jerked a little and her expression softened a little as though regretting her choice of words. She knew of his reluctance with mobile suits. She looked over at the Gundam. "Well, damage-wise, it's light." She said changing the topic. "It's battered in a few places particularly on the arms and legs. The worst is the right shoulder and your cockpit area. That shot fried several systems, so that's going to have to be repaired before you can use it again." She paused for a moment then added. "It could have been a _lot _worse."

"I know," He replied trying to push that particular thought out of his mind as he turned around. "I'm going to go get a drink. My thanks for your work on the machines."

"Lieutenant." He stopped in his tracks though he didn't look back at the professor. "If you _really _are against piloting the Honor, take it up with Brimfield. A reluctant pilot isn't going to be able to use the Honor to its full potential. You'll just get yourself killed unless you can fully commit to it."

Dalen just gave a short wave of acknowledgement before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walked out of the bay but not before he shot the Honor another quick look.

Maybe it was time to talk frankly with Brimfield and tell him he should get a new pilot for it. While part of him did feel attached to the machine, it also felt like a snake coiling around him; slowly squeezing him, tightening itself so he couldn't get away, until it ultimately suffocated him. It would be a burden he would gladly let someone else take.

Well whatever decision he made, he better make it soon. If he was going to let someone else pilot the Honor, the sooner they began the better off they would be.

Spotting a pair of familiar forms approaching him, Dalen called out, "Hey, Goldie, Henry! You guys wanna go get a drink with me?"

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**10:45am**

Marching imperiously through the filthy streets, a squad of ZAFT soldiers kept keen gazes on everyone and everything around them. Being in this infested hive of criminals was really, really putting them on edge. Many of them, especially the veterans, felt like they were little more than moving targets for a sniper to pick off at will. And, to a certain degree, they were quite accurate in that paranoid belief. Perhaps it was due to the fact that none of the soldiers carried any of their rifles or firearms, as per the law of the station that prevented them from being sniped. However, it still took a great amount of discipline for them to continue on their journey towards their target.

Finally, after a nerve-wracking ten-minute march, the leader spotted their target up ahead, the Cosmic Café. It was a shabby establishment that was every bit as rundown and filthy as the rest of the station. But, for some reason, Squad Three hadn't reported in or returned when they were finished investigating the bar. The situation demanded that a second squad be sent to retrieve or investigate what had happened.

Kicking the door open to help vent his foul mood, the leader of the squad entered the musky and smoky bar with an obvious grimace of disgust. What he saw as he walked inside was the ten-man Squad Three, bound and gagged to chairs and tables throughout the small bar. It didn't take long to locate the culprits as they were lounging at a table in the farthest corner of the bar, idly sipping their drinks. It took even less time for the sergeant to realize that the two men were Lieutenants Siemer and Bertelsen, the reported pilots of the _Early Harvest_ X-unit mobile suits!

"Welcome, gentlemen," one of the pair called, Lieutenant Bertelsen? "Your friends have been expecting you."

"What is this?" he demanded as he marched up to the pair, his squad following in his footsteps.

"We were throwing a private party to celebrate the loss of our neutrality in your war," Lieutenant Siemer stated curtly as he returned his drink to his lips to take another sip from. "Go away."

"Now, now, Henry," Lieutenant Bertelsen said in a quiet voice. "Is that any way to treat our guests? Please, gentlemen, don't be shy; come in!"

Scowling darkly at the pair's laid back attitudes, the sergeant snarled out, "You're under arrest, _pirates_."

Chuckling at the man's statement, Henry asked, "Under whose authority?"

"Mine," a voice called out from the back of the group, surprising a good portion of the soldiers who hadn't been aware of the speaker's presence. Nonetheless, they respectfully cleared a path for the man as he strode forward to the forefront of the squad.

The man wore the common green uniform of a ZAFT soldier, but the pirate pair recognized him immediately. His face drawn into a deep scowl of hatred, his yellow eyes seeming to glow in the dim light of the tavern, and a large, powerful frame of coiled muscle that was quite noticeably stretching his uniform. To anyone else but these two, he would've seemed like a monster of a man.

"Aw, hello, Hercules," Dalen called out, his tone almost mocking as he and Henry sat back in their seats. "When was the last time we had the pleasure of his company?"

"I believe it was the day he was cast out of the _Early Harvest_ around the time of the Second Battle of Jachin Due," Henry answered immediately, his voice as cold as ice. "'Conduct unbecoming of a member of the crew,' that was the charge I do believe, along with strong evidence of murdering a fellow crewmember."

"You should know," Aleron growled. "Most of you stood against me."

"For Makoto's sake, it was the _least_ we could do," Dalen responded, his voice just as cold as Henry's.

Forcing himself to not fall into their trap of reminiscing of their shared past, in his best commander voice he said, "You are under arrest for the theft of nuclear weapons, classified military data, and about six hundred other crimes. You could of course refuse, become hunted men. Why not come along quietly...for old time's sake?"

The two men looked at each other. "Six hundred?" Dalen repeated a bewildered look on his face. "Is that all? I could have sworn it was over a thousand."

"ZAFT must be slipping," Henry replied nodding his head in agreement as he jerked a thumb at Aleron. "Since he's in it, we know how low their standards have become."

A sudden noise above them caught the ZAFT soldiers by surprise. In the few seconds it took for them to look up towards the noise, the rusty cable that had been used to hold a large chandler in place over the bar snapped. Even Coordinators, with their super-Natural reflexes, couldn't dodge the rapidly falling hunk of metal. The large piece of metal landed heavily within their midst all but crushing them beneath its weight, revealing a green-haired figure standing atop it.

"Did I miss anyone?" Goldie asked as he looked around, verifying that he did indeed catch all the new soldiers under the chandler.

"Congratulations, Goldie, you brought down the house," Dalen said as he and Henry stood up from their table, circling Aleron who was the only one not hit. "Except this rat."

"I was _trying_ to hit Delahaye," Goldie pouted as he repositioned himself on the chandler just in case the ZAFT commander made any suspicious moves.

Aleron turned a fierce glare upon the newcomer. If there was one person in all of the _Early Harvest_ crew that he hated more than anyone else, it was Charles Goldsboro. This was because the scrawny punk was one of the very few who could best him in a fistfight, thanks to the chemical enhancements that he'd received from the Earth Forces before he'd escaped. With this little brat here, his chances of apprehending either of the other two had just diminished to zero.

Movement in front of him returned Aleron's attention to Henry who had moved just in front of him. "You go back and you tell the Chairman this: we never wanted any part of his war. But now that he's involved us, we will use every means within our power to fight him. And we'll not stop until one of us is destroyed."

"Bold words," Aleron stated, a smirk crossing his face as he stared down at the smaller man. "I look forward to ramming them down your throat."

Henry only let out a dark chuckle as he walked away towards the exit.

"Tell me, Delahaye," Goldie spoke up. "What machine do you pilot now? I fly the X3."

Turning to the youngest man of the trio, Aleron easily saw the festering hatred within the young man's eyes. Smirking deeply, he said, "A black Slash ZAKU Phantom with a golden Roman numeral 4 on its right side and shield."

Nodding as he committed the information to memory, Goldie said, "I'll see you on the battlefield." With that said, Goldie and Dalen quickly followed after their teammate, leaving Aleron the duty of cleaning up the mess they left behind.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**February 5, 74 CE**_**  
**_**Linz, Austria  
3:53am**

In the darkness of the night, Akira sprinted as best he could through the cold, snowy city. The streets were relatively deserted, and excluding the snow and ice covering the ground, there was little to no obstacles for him to dodge around. To that regard, he was making great time in his pained sprint. But because he was still hampered by his wounds, he was running at a pace that was little more than an average run for a Natural. And he'd been running since he'd landed the Karai in his usual hiding place at the city outskirts.

Without Mirage Colloid, the machine was plainly visible, but he wasn't planning on staying too long for that to be a problem. But that Compton-class land battleship that he'd flown over as he approached the city had caused a terrible foreboding to settle into his gut. ZAFT was close by, _too_ close.

Turning around yet another street, he looked up ahead and let out a small sigh of relief at the comforting sight of the café that was still standing in front of him and there didn't seem to be any obvious signs of damage. That meant that ZAFT hadn't arrived yet…or were being subtle this time.

Slowing down slightly to better control his breathing and ease his aches, Akira settled into a light jog as he neared the café. _It's okay_, he kept telling himself. _Meer wouldn't have told them. She's smarter than that…isn't she?_

A split second after that question crossed his mind, a familiar instinctive impulse washed over him. _Danger!_ It was followed by a large explosion of sound, heat, and debris that quite literally blew him off his feet. Crying out as he landed heavily upon his bruised back, Akira automatically raised one arm to block his face from the explosive winds as they washed over him. Where did this explosion come from?!

Propping himself back up to his feet, Akira found the source immediately. The café!

In an instant, all his pain and previous injuries left him as he jumped to his feet and sprinted into the flaming building. Smoke, fire, scattered debris, and gases impeded his vision but he didn't need it because he knew this diner's layout well. Dodging around one flaming section of wall he recognized once belonged to the doorway to the backroom, he was suddenly surrounded by flames and oppressive heat from where the oven had once been.

Crouching low to avoid the smoke—_Danger!_—he flinched back as a portion of the ceiling suddenly collapsed. Once it had fallen, he leapt over the boards and found the doorway to the upstairs. Climbing the stairs quickly, he kicked down the door and was immediately awash by more fire and smoke. Coughing out the smoke as it invaded his lungs, Akira carefully rushed to the bedroom. With each step he took, the floor creaked and groaned loudly, even in the din of the conflagration raging around him.

"Oria!" he called out, trying to be heard over the roar of the fire. "Xavier! Are you here?!"

Crashing through the burning bedroom door, he found it too was engulfed in fire. But what attracted his attention was the feminine figure that was convulsing and screaming on the floor, flames licking up her body as her clothes continued to burn mercilessly.

"Oria!" he yelled, rushing forward and ripping the burning garments off her body. "Oria, speak to me!"

"A-Akira?" she asked weakly, eyes opening to see his face silhouetted by the burning wreckage around them.

"Hold on, I'll get you out of here!" he said, picking her up carefully and gently slinging her over his shoulder. As he was moving towards the door—_Danger!_—there came a loud groan and splintering sound as the floor beneath him suddenly gave out, its strength burned away from the fires of the first floor. With loud cries, the pair fell through the hole that opened up beneath, fire and debris falling around and on top of them.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

**4:15am**

The rising smoke cloud above the area where the café formerly stood was all the sign he needed to know that the mission had succeeded as expected. It wasn't something that he was particularly proud of doing, but orders were orders.

According to the intelligence bureau, the café and its residents had recently been discovered to have been known affiliates of the notorious terrorist Akira Iyadomi. It was only logical that they be removed from the picture before they could do anything else to endanger the safety of the world, even if the primary target was no longer among the land of the living.

It was with that justification that the ZAFT commander turned back away from the scene before him and towards the display console. "What's the status of that unknown machine we detected a few minutes ago?"

"Unchanged, sir," the radar station answered.

That brought a slight frown to the commander's face. A new mobile suit of unknown was troubling enough, but why would anyone have any business in this particular city? Was it just a coincidence or was there something more sinister in the making? Those were questions that he'd asked himself when the machine had arrived. He'd dispatched a small recon team to assess and possibly acquire the mobile suit shortly after it landed, but they hadn't reported back in yet.

"Colonel! Detecting a large heat source," the radar station suddenly called out. "It's the unknown! It's lifting off!"

"Track it!" he ordered immediately. "Do we have a visual?"

"Yes sir!"

An image of a large orange and white Gundam suddenly appeared upon the overhead monitor as it rose from the ground. Once it had reached a certain altitude, it suddenly blasted forward with tremendous speed as it emitted distinctive blinding rings of white light.

"The unknown is heading straight for us!"

"Dispatch the BABIs!" he ordered. "Try to open a channel with the unknown, find out what its intentions are!"

Within moments the Gundam had reached the battleship and began a slow circling pattern. Before the Colonel could question these actions, his answer became clear as the monitors and computer systems of the ship began to flicker and go haywire. The pilot was hacking into their computer network, and not very subtly either.

However the attack only lasted a few moments before all of them suddenly turned black and shut down. For a second there was only silence before they lit back up again with a message from the pilot.

_They were good people. This is punishment._

Outside, eyes glowing in a silent rage, the unknown Gundam dropped into view of the Compton's bridge with its large anti-ship beam sword already in motion. The bridge was destroyed within instants. What followed that attack was the cold, systematic destruction of the large ZAFT land battleship.

* * *

**(Author's Note) **Man, I thought this chapter would never make it out! Why is it that every time I've got this really kickass idea, it always takes forever for me to reach it? Well, one thing I can say for sure is that I'm _really_ looking forward to coming chapters!

Also I'm adding a new poll to my profile and I'd like your honest opinion. It has come to my attention that thanks to one of my friends there's a certain characteristic that Akira has that has been slightly blown out portion. Please note that I have been aware of it for some time but due to how my story needed to go, it was inevitable it was going to happen. Should I change it or leave it as is?

**MVF-X30F Karai **(based on Gundam Arios) **  
**Manufacturer: Morgenroete, Inc.  
Operator: Terminal, Orb; Tolle Koenig, Akira Iyadomi  
First deployment: January 31, 74 CE  
Powerplant: ultracompact hyper-deuterium nuclear reactor  
Color: Orange, white (mobile suit); orange, black (mobile armor)  
Equipment and design features:  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Transformable structure  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x M2M5D 12.5mm CIWS, fire-lined, mounted in head  
2 x MMI-M15 "Kintaro" railgun, mounted in wingtips, usable in mobile suit and mobile armor forms  
2 x Type 72 high-energy beam cannon, mounted on wings, usable only in mobile armor form  
2 x MA-FN06 "Momotaro" dual-barrel beam gun, mounted on forearms, usable only in mobile suit mode  
2 x beam shield generator, mounted on wrists  
2 x Type 75X beam saber, stored on shins  
Optional Hand Armaments:  
2 x MA-M21KF high-energy beam rifle, combinable, stored in wings  
2 x RQM60F "Flash-Edge 2" beam boomerang, stored in shoulder armor  
1 x MMI-710 "Kiyohime" anti-ship beam sword, stored on back  
_Karai means cyclonic thunderstorm.  
Kintaro, Momotaro, and Kiyohime are all Japanese folklore figures._


	28. Beginning of the End

**Gundam SEED Destiny  
**Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Final Phase 28: Beginning of the End_

**February 5, 74 CE  
Linz, Austria  
1:10pm**

_He was sitting in a small café, absently eating a fish sandwich. However, his attention was focused upon the newspaper on the table beside him. It wasn't as difficult as it had been a few weeks ago for him to translate the German paper enough to understand it. German wasn't his best language, but he was learning. And what he was seeing made him feel somewhat reassured._

_The people in the area were moving on. He could still detect certain amounts of bitterness towards Coordinators and the PLANTs by reading between the lines. But it was a definite step up from the outright racism that many papers in many other countries were still writing. He knew better than to think people could get over their negative emotions so quickly after so much hate and death. Only time would help heal those wounds, but this was a definite step in the right direction._

_A presence beside him quickly drew his attention. It was the woman who waitressed and owned the café. She looked quizzically at his half-eaten meal, reminding him that it was still in his hand, before setting his bill down next to him. Quickly finishing off the sandwich, he fished through his pocket and withdrew his wallet. An empty wallet glared up at him._

_Glancing up at the lady, who was still lingering over him, he saw that she'd easily seen his empty wallet as well. A nervous laugh tore its way out of his throat as he watched her expression morph from serene to glaring within a moment._

"_I swear I will pay for this," he said quietly in a broken German._

"_Darn right you will, kid," the lady said as her hand flashed down and clamped tightly upon his earlobe. With no sympathy whatsoever, she yanked him towards the backroom and shoved him towards the sink, which had a __**very**__ large pile of dishes mounted next to it._

"_Wash, now," she barked commandingly before marching back out into the dining area._

_Akira could only stare dumbly down at the sink and filthy dishes for a few moments, wondering how he had gotten himself into this. It was a deep, barking chuckle from over by the large stove that snapped him from his stupefied state._

"_Best get to work, kid," the man suggested, amusement thick in his accented voice. "Oria is a real slave driver when it comes to bums that don't pay."_

He had wept for hours uncontrollably. Even with the cockpit of the Gundam he was inside set at a comfortable temperature, he wrapped himself up into a tight ball. Tears had fallen like rain no matter how many times he tried to dry his face on the blanket he was nestled in. Tears had fallen until he had no more to cry with, and still he wept.

The blanket stunk of smoke and was half-burnt from the fire that he'd pulled it from, but he paid it no attention. It was all he had left of the Falacci. They were gone. The café, their home, and their lives had all been destroyed in an instant. They were gone. Why? Why did they have to die? They hadn't done anything wrong!

Was it simply because they had known him? Was it because they had done as he'd asked and kept Meer Campbell safe from the masses that wouldn't hesitate to harm her simply because of who she was trying to impersonate? He knew there was only one way that ZAFT could've found out about them; Meer had told them. Why did she have to tell ZAFT about them? As far as he knew, Meer had never been treated with anything more than respect and courtesy during her time at the café. So why did she have to tell them?! Surely she had known that this was going to happen?

He had taken her there because he simply didn't have anywhere else he could've put her. The Falacci were really the only people on Earth that he knew of that might be willing to help him. They were supposed to be protected in the anonymity; no one would've suspected a pair of simple café cooks would be in semi-regular contact with a wanted terrorist as himself. But he still had hesitated in his decision in bringing her to them.

Because of this very thing happening!

He should've trusted his instincts and kept Meer close to him at all times. Then she wouldn't have known about the Falacci to begin with. Now not only were the Falacci dead, but so were an entire battleship of ZAFT personnel. And despite his own beliefs and convictions, he just couldn't find it within himself to pity those who he had so cold-bloodedly killed when they were the ones directly responsible for murdering the Falacci. It was all their fault; them, Gilbert Durandal, Meer Campbell, and most of all _himself_.

But why? Why did she tell Durandal?!

'_I need to find her, talk to her_,' he realized. As he finally lifted his head, his glazed over eyes were reflected back to him on the multiple monitors of the Karai Gundam as he felt a burning wave of heat enter his body. Akira Iyadomi was _angry_.

* * *

(**AUTHOR'S NOTE**) It's short, _I know_!

But unfortunately, like you've likely all realized by now, I've completely lost what little drive I had to finish this story. I decided to post this one final scene and then end it. Before any of you start yelling that there's still so many unanswered questions and unresolved problems, I consider this 'ending' as a good finishing scene for the story and a good place for a **potential sequel **to start up, if I decide to return to this story-verse in the future. Hopefully, the next story will feature a send-off for Akira Iyadomi's character that you all can like.

If there's anyone out there who lacks the patience in waiting for me to write the sequel, I'll be perfectly happily to let you write your versions of the ending. I'd be more than happy to beta-read for you. Not to sound arrogant or egotistical, but if you decide to take up this offer remember this: I have _VERY _high and strict standards.

Until next time...


	29. Closure & Goodbye 'GSD: Kira'

**Gundam SEED Destiny**  
Kira  
By: Tellemicus Sundance  
_Legacy of the Dark Knight_

This isn't a chapter. Rather, it is my way of finally bringing closure to this story because I don't think I'll ever finish it. I know that many of you were (and still are) disappointed that I gave up on this story, just as things were really starting to get interesting. I know because I'm just as disappointed in myself, probably even more so than any of you are.

Without further ado, here are the spoilers for what I'd originally had planned for this story.

_**Gibraltar Incident**_

After arriving in Gibraltar and donning the disguise of a common ZAFT green soldier, Akira begins discreetly planting bombs and setting timers throughout the base. Although Rey is also at the base and can partially sense his presence, Akira is purposely suppressing his to hide among the crowd. Though feeling rather anxious, Rey can't pinpoint exactly why. Akira focuses a majority of his attention on the mobile suit ammunitions and energy cells. Once he's finished, he meets with Tolle in the prison and clues him into what he was planning. Later that night, after Athrun, Shinn, and Heine are given the Destiny, Legend, and Fate Gundams, Akira hacks into the computer network and gets into contact with Athrun. After determining that Athrun no longer agrees with Durandal's policies and questionable goals, he outlines a perfect escape plan for Athrun to use.

A short while later, Akira crashes the network and cuts off all power to the base. Coupled with time bombs he planted earlier, this causes mass confusion and panic throughout the base. During the initial confusion, Akira locates Meer and enlightens her to the fate of the Falacci and their murder by ZAFT forces under Durandal's orders. Because he strongly believed that she still hadn't seen the err of her trust in Durandal's omniscience, Akira left her with the warning that if they ever met again on opposite sides of a conflict he'd _punish_ her. With his message delivered, Akira fled the base to begin the next phase of his plan.

Athrun was able to steal a motorcycle and fled out the front gate and towards the waiting plane that Akira had prepared, which could take him to Orb. Tolle also used the loss of power to escape from his prison cell. However, he decided to hijack a GOUF to escape the base, which of course drew Shinn's attention. Despite using a Coordinator mobile suit he wasn't familiar with, Tolle was able to put a very good fight against Shinn, but he was still outclassed. During that battle, Tolle reams into Shinn about the choices he's made and his inability to learn forgiveness. Unknown to either of them, they had been broadcasting their argument over an open channel, all of the ZAFT base heard them. Even though Shinn killed him in the end, Tolle was christened as the Orange Knight of Orb by the ZAFT soldiers who'd witnessed the battle.

It was only after this Akira managed to arrive with the Karai Gundam for Tolle. Too late to save Tolle and having attracted ZAFT's attention, Akira steals a rocket booster and blasts up into orbit with the Karai. His destination was the Mathilde Colony, not knowing it had been destroyed a while ago.

_**Battle of the Debris Belt**_

As Athrun was slowly making his way to Orb and Akira towards the former Mathilde Colony, the ZAFT operation Harvest Reapers had managed to corner the _Early Harvest_ and _Late Autumn_ in the Debris Belt. Because the ZAFT commander, Aleron Delahaye, was an EH traitor, he was able to perfectly predict and counter all of Captain Brimfield's tactics before they were even made. Had it not been for the X-unit Gundams, the pirates would've been annihilated. As it were, they suffered massive damage to their ships, lost over half their mobile suit force (including the X3 Loyalty), and were limping away when Terminal forces and Akira in the Karai arrived, attracted by the X3's nuclear explosion. Caught by surprise by unexpected reinforcements, the ZAFT team was soundly defeated and retreated.

Though weary of each other at first, because Akira was well-known and friendly to people on both sides, Terminal and the surviving _Early Harvest_ pirates rallied together and opened negotiations. It was during these negotiations that certain interesting facts were discovered.

_**ZAFT Conquers the Alliance/Revolutionary New Gundam**_

Though setback by the loss of a significant portion of the supplies, the allied ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces march on Heaven's Base. With help from the Destiny, Legend, and Fate Gundams, the battle was short but bloody, a nearly one-sided fight with ZAFT emerging victorious. But, despite the arrest of numerous Logos members, Djibril escaped and made his way to Orb.

In space, construction begins in desperation for the completion of a new Gundam design. During their mobilization at the beginning of the war, Terminal forces had discovered a strange Gundam frame from the previous war in one of the warehouses they'd commandeered. However, the Gundam had never been completed and the design plans were nowhere to be found. With the arrival of the _Early Harvest_, Professor K had taken a quick tour of their hangar and recognized the frame some of the data she and Akira had stolen from ZAFT. With a quick study of the plans, they began modeling the machine to fit Akira's preferences because he was the only Coordinator strong enough to withstand the tremendous G-Forces and overwhelming power the Gundam would've been capable of.

The Karai Gundam was upgraded for use by Coordinators and given to Captain Brimfield as a sign of good faith and thanks. And during this month of construction, the X1 Courage and X2 Honor are seriously upgraded with numerous new weapons and abilities.

Akira was spending a significant portion of his time helping out on the Gundam's construction so as to keep his mind off of Lacus. Now that he was quickly beginning to realize to realize that he really had once been Kira Yamato, he was constantly finding himself confused over his feelings about many things; chief among being Lacus. Though he does care deeply for her, he doesn't to be with her if it means he has to be someone he no longer remembers being.

_**Operation Fury**_

Arriving in Orb at long last, Athrun is surprised to learn that the _Archangel_ has already received his Infinite Justice Gundam from Terminal, on recommendations from Lacus. He is also just in time to launch with Cagalli in the Akatsuki to defend Orb from Operational Fury and the Seirans' incompetence. Arriving late, the _Minerva_ launches the Destiny and Fate into the battle. While Athrun is busy fighting against Heine, Shinn goes to aid in the search of Durandal. However, he's unable to keep his hatred of the country back and begins indiscriminately attacking fleeing Orb citizens and soldiers.

Having caught wind the coming attack, Terminal jumps into action. They send the X1 Courage, X2 Honor, the Karai, DOM Trooper, Hizacks, and Akira in his new NOVA Gundam transporting Lacus to the _Archangel_. Lured away by these dangerous new opponents, the ZAFT forces quickly are defeated after they witness the NOVA's incredible fighting abilities. The NOVA reduces the Destiny and Legend to little more than flying cockpits, completely defenseless, but Akira allows them to retreat. Because he hadn't grown accustomed to the NOVA and had gotten multiple injuries during the fight because of the intense G-Forces and he's forced to retreat to the _Archangel_ for immediate medical attention.

Despite Akira having to retreat from the battlefield due to his injuries, the battle still hasn't ended. ZAFT forces continue pounding against the Orb defenders. Shortly afterwards, the remaining Phantom Pain forces arrive offshore and aid in the defense of Orb. However it wasn't out of loyalty to Djibril that they took up arms against ZAFT, it was because of Akira saving their substitute commander's life earlier (aftermath of the Battle of Lohengrin Gate). But it isn't until Djibril launches for space that the battle comes to an end. Afterwards, these remaining Phantom Pain forces follow their old commander's lead (Neo) and officially join Terminal.

_**Tears of the Stars**_

As he's recovering from his injuries from the battle, Akira finds himself playing with Lacus' child, Kawayui, whom he nicknames Yui-chan. Unnoticed by either of them, Lacus watches them interact with a wistful yearning. Meanwhile, Neo finally decides to remain with the _Archangel_ because he feels a close familiarity towards Murrue.

Furious and humiliated at how easily he was defeated, Shinn puts himself through rigorous training exercises to better attune himself to the Destiny's abilities. After Lacus exposes Meer as a duplicate during Cagalli's broadcast that ZAFT interrupted, Durandal puts Meer into seclusion in Copernicus City. He also orders the _Minerva_ back into space for a bit of R&R. Also, ZAFT forces notice several Earth Alliance fleets grouped around the O'Neil Colonies and are positioning them at various points throughout the region. While at Copernicus City, when Meer hears that the _Archangel_ had docked, she sees her chance and flees to join the crew. Thanks to reluctant help from Akira, she was allowed entry to the warship (after being thoroughly checked and screened for tracking devices). When she's allowed to meet the real Lacus and learns of her connection to Akira, Meer finally understands how and why Akira was able to so easily believe that she was a fake. She remains on the _Archangel_ for the rest of the war.

On the moon, Djibril fires the Requiem. But because of a minor alteration to one of the reflection stations, he misses his intended target but still destroys six PLANTS. Learning of the devastating power and the death toll, furious ZAFT forces destroy the reflector station and the _Minerva_ trashes the Requiem base, killing Djibril as he tries to flee in the _Girty Lue_.

_**Battle of the Requiem**_

When ZAFT forces fire the repaired Requiem into the final remaining Earth Alliance base to oppose them and the Destiny Plan, Terminal scrambles to destroy the various reflector stations and beam emitter. It is during this battle that the _Early Harvest_ and _Late Autumn_ face off against Aleron Delahaye again, he's piloting an upgraded version of the Dominator Gundam that had been captured by ZAFT forces during the Destroy Incident. During the battle, the _Early Harvest_ is severely crippled. It is finally destroyed when Captain Brimfield sacrifices himself and the ship to use the _Early Harvest_'s energy shield to block a premature blast the Requiem at the Terminal fleet. Aleron is killed by a combined effort between the vengeful remaining _Early Harvest_ mobile suits, the X-units, and the _Late Autumn_.

Then the _Minerva_ and a significant portion of the ZAFT fleet arrive. A gigantic battle ensues as the remaining Terminal forces try to stall the fleet as the _Archangel_ battles and cripples the _Minerva_ while Athrun and Mu destroy Requiem. Akira faces off against Heine but isn't fairing too well because his injuries from the previous battle hadn't completely healed and the NOVA begins to overheat.

The battle would've ended in the eventual defeat of Terminal by the ZAFT forces had Akira not pushed the NOVA so hard that it needed to activate its emergency Super NOVA cool down, creating a massive cloud superheated particles to fill the battlefield and cause both sides to retreat away from the miniature sun that the NOVA Gundam had become. However, while this emergency system saved Akira's life and prevented the NOVA's unstable reactor from melting and exploding, it also reduced the Gundam to useless slab of steel once the metal cooled off. Had Akira not ejected himself from the cockpit shortly after the system and heat had died down, he would've been trapped inside it.

_**Battle of the Messiah**_

As he was floating out in space above his destroyed Gundam, Akira's memories finally began realigning themselves. He remembered battling against Rau Le Creuset, he remembered Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and all his friends, but most importantly he remembered why he'd subconsciously decided to forget all about his past. It was the discovery of his origins, being the Ultimate Coordinator and the dark past that surrounded it, that he'd didn't want to associate with, so he'd locked it all away inside himself until he'd felt 'ready' to face it again. He finally acknowledged that he was indeed Kira Yamato, but that he was also Akira Iyadomi.

While Kira was undergoing this revelation, the ZAFT fortress _Messiah_ had finally decided to enter the battlefield. Launching the Destiny, Legend, and over two hundred mobile suits, Durandal was fully expecting to destroy the _Eternal_, _Archangel_, and Terminal before they had a chance to regroup.

However, just after the NOVA's emergency cool down system activated, Lacus had the _Eternal_ launch their spare Gundam towards the NOVA's last known coordinates. This Gundam was the accumulation of the Neo Freedom's battle data that Terminal had uploaded from the OS, merged with modern technology. Lacus had named it the Divine Freedom. But because of the discovery and completion of the NOVA, it had been set aside to be used as a backup. Kira was able to board and activate the Divine Freedom as it neared his location.

Using it and joined by the Courage, Honor, and Karai, he directly attacks the _Messiah_'s forces. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Gundams are able to tear through their enemies due to their greater combat experience and better suits. After dealing with the ZAKUs and GOUFs, the Courage and Honor turn their attentions to destroying the _Messiah_ while the Karai and Freedom battle against the Legend and Destiny respectively. It was a brutal battle, but Lieutenant Ken Ohajin (acting Captain of the _Late Autumn_ and pilot of the Karai) and Kira were able to defeat their opponents, crippling the ZAFT Gundams. Shinn is knocked unconscious and the Destiny floats away, Rey is able to get the Legend to limp back aboard the _Messiah_.

With the _Messiah_ practically falling apart and being evacuated because of the damage inflicted by the Courage and Honor, Kira lands the Freedom inside and goes to meet with Durandal. Kira finds Durandal still inside the command tower, waiting for him. As they argue over their beliefs of how the world should be run and whose dream of a future would be better, Rey sneaks in prepares to shoot Kira. When all words are spoken, a single shot is fired.

Outside, ZAFT forces are in disarray because of the destruction of the _Messiah_ and their loss of contact with Durandal. Thanks to Terminal scrambling their forces and surrounding the disorganized fleet, the ZAFT forces surrender and peace talks begin at last. More four hundred lives were lost in the Battles of the Messiah and Requiem.

Among those missing were the machines and pilots of the Divine Freedom and Destiny.

_**Epilogue – Five Years Later**_

It is the evening of the anniversary of the Valentines Wars, Lacus (Supreme Chairwoman of the PLANTS) is throwing a small party for all her friends in her home. Many people come to celebrate with them, including Cagalli and Athrun who were briefly able to escape Orb with their twin sons. Even Meer, who had taken up her own musical career, attended the party.

After a long party, Lacus' husband takes the children and tucks them into bed, but not before telling them the story of the mysterious Dark Knight of Freedom. He tells of the young man's many battles, his disappearance after the Battle of the Messiah, and that the belief of the peoples of Earth and Space that the Dark Knight wasn't dead but that he had once again gone into hiding, awaiting the day for which war would once again threaten the peace of the world. Later that night, Kira Yamato learns that his wife, Lacus, was pregnant with their third child.

On that same evening, a young man with amnesia departs from the secret Izanami colony. He leaves in search of discovering his lost identity, his only clue being the mobile suit he'd been rescued in: the Destiny Gundam.

_**

* * *

**_

Unreleased Gundam Data

**ZGMF-1001HMX/DC Slash ZAKU Phantom**  
Model number: ZGMF-1001HMX/K, High-Maneuver Experimental-Type/Delahaye Custom  
Unit type: commander type mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Integrated Design Bureau  
Operator: ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty), Aleron Delahaye  
First deployment: unknown  
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
Dimensions: overall height: 19.1 meters  
Weight: max gross weight 88.1 metric tons  
Power Plant: ultracompact energy battery  
Equipment and design features:  
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)  
Hard points for mounting Wizard packs  
Sensors, range unknown  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x MMI-M826 "Hydra" Gatling beam cannon, mounted on backpack  
2 x shield, mounted on shoulders  
Optional hand armaments:  
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist  
1 x MMI-558 "Tempest" beam sword, stored behind right shoulder  
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hip armor  
Remote weapons:  
6 x GDU-X5 beam assault machine cannon, stored in shields and on waist

**ZMOI- X01T NOVA** (based on 00 Raiser and Strike Freedom)  
Model Number: ZMOI-X01T, Zero Multi-range Operation Interceptor – Experimental Unit 01 Third Generation  
Unit type**: **prototype assault mobile suit**  
**Manufacturer: Terminal, _Early Harvest_  
Operator: Akira Iyadomi  
First deployment: **March 22, 74 CE (Second Battle of Orb)**  
Power Plant: ultracompact proton reactor (nuclear ghost particle reactor)  
Color: Blue, gold  
Height: 18.8M  
Weight: 79.89t (tons)  
Equipment and design features:  
"HiMAT 2.0" ballistic attack system  
Movable wing-shields (shields can produce a force field that reflects all beam attacks)  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Super NOVA, emergency reactor cooling system (**Trans-AM Burst**)  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system  
Fixed armaments:  
2 x Z2X5X 12.5mm CIWS, fire-lined, mounted in head  
2 x AAF-Q10 Type X "Safian" railgun, mounted on hips, swivels back to double as a venire booster (experimental)  
2 x ZMOI Type X "Nova" plasma cannons, mounted on wing-shields, doubles as a rapid-fire cannons (experimental)  
4 x beam shield generator; 2 mounted on wing-shields, 2 mounted on wrists  
Optional Hand Armaments:  
2 x MA-M21KF high-energy beam rifle, combinable sniper rifle, stored in wings  
1 x ZCM-999 "Soul Edge" anti-ship beam sword, stored on back (experimental)  
2 x MA-M7X VPS armor short sword/beam saber, combinable, stored in wings (experimental)  
4 x Type 100X beam saber, stored in legs and shoulders

**EHG-X2T Honor**  
Unit type**: **prototype attack mobile suit  
Model Number: EHG-X2T, _E__arly __H__arvest_ Gundam-eXperimental unit 02-Terminal  
Manufacturer**:** Mathilde Colony (_Early Harvest_), Terminal  
Operator(s): _Early Harvest_, Dalen Bertelsen  
First deployment**: ****March 22, 74 CE** (**Second Battle of Orb**)  
Power Plant: ultracompact hyper deuterion nuclear reactor  
Color: Faded orange (torso, shoulders, forearms), white  
Equipment and design features:  
Mirage Colloid  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
Armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest  
1 x MMI-RG59V mobile shield, mounted on left arm  
2 x MX2351 "Solidus Fulgor" beam shield generator, mounted on wrists  
2 x M71-AAK "Folding Razor" anti-armor knife, stored in hip armor  
Optional Hand Armaments:  
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders  
2 x MMI-980 "Claymore" anti-ship sword, combinable, stored on back  
4 x MA-80V DRAGOON assault beam cannons, stored on back  
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist  
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hips

ZGMF-XX0A Divine Freedom  
Unit Type: Prototype assault mobile suit  
Manufacturer: Integrated Design Bureau  
Operator(s): Terminal, Akira Iyadomi  
First Deployment: **April 29, 71 CE (Battle of the Messiah)**  
Power Plant: ultracompact hyper deuterion nuclear reactor  
Equipment and Design Features:  
Neutron Jammer Canceller  
Sensors, range unknown  
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor  
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system  
Fixed Armaments:  
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head  
2 x M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon, stored in wings, mounted over shoulders in use  
2 x MMI-M15E "Xiphias 3" rail cannon, folded underneath hips, spread out in use  
2 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on wrists  
Optional Hand Armaments:  
2 x MA-M02G "Super Lacerta" beam saber, stored on shoulders  
2 x MA-M21KF high-energy beam rifle, stored on hips, can be combined

* * *

And these are my final little treats for you that I'd been saving to use in the coming chapters. These were originally written by my friend and co-author **Fiction Reader98** about his character of Dalen Bertelsen. I hope you enjoy these little pieces he'd written a long time ago.

**Battle of the Debris Belt**

Brimfield gripped his chair hard as the _Early Harvest _shook from yet another blast. "Enemy mobile suits approaching!" He heard the CIC operator, Yachi Lungho, shouted from his chair. "Two Slash ZAKU warriors and a Gunner ZAKU coming at us from the starboard side!"

"Contact our mobile suits, tell a few of them we need some cover support now!" Brimfield hollered as a series of small explosions appeared on one side of the pirate vessel. Its weapons attempted to shoot them down, but the three ZAFT machines were too fast.

"We've got fires on decks 3, 5, and 17!" another crewmember shouted in fire.

"We just lost an engine, maneuvering ability reduced by forty percent!"

That's when a small explosion erupted from behind Brimfield who quickly turned his head around in time to see two of his people flew across the room. They were dead before they hit the opposite wall.

"We just lost the second Lohengrin sir!" Nojiri reported, fear more than apparent in his voice as Yachi and another crewman ran over to the burning destroyed consoles, using fire extinguishers to get it under control.

"Where are those mobile suits?" the Captain demanded again. Seeing that the fire was mostly under control, Yachi jumped back to his position and rechecked the readings without issue this time. "... none available sir..."

Brimfield turned his head to look directly at the man. "What do you mean 'none available'? How many are left?"

"... Seven."

It was like someone had taken a hammer and hit the entire bridge crew at once in the stomach as the _Early Harvest _shook once more. Only seven mobile suits left? How? How could they have lost so many so quickly? Brimfield's eyes shifted to the windows themselves, not needing any sort of reading to tell him just how many units the ZAFT still had operational. "The Courage?"

"I can't contact it sir."

"... The Loyalty?"

"... Being trashed by that black Slash ZAKU Phantom..."

Delahaye's unit from what his pilots had said. And the Honor was still grounded due to its problems. He suddenly felt ten years old as he just sank into his chair.

How were they going to get out of this?

"Enemy ships moving!" another woman spoke up. "The Laurasia is coming at us head on and the other two are moving off to the left and right!"

Flanking maneuvers. They intended to cut off any escape routes and trap them from all sides.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

Professor K nearly lost her footing as the ship rocked again. "Prepare to receive!" She shouted at the others as a damaged GuAIZ flew in and crashed against the safety harness (No idea what the proper term is). "Get the man out of there and begin maintenance!"

"Commence cooling of mobile suit." a female crewmember announced as water hoses began spraying down the damaged machine. A loading ramp was moved to the cockpit as a team began cutting through the cockpit to get the man out as K shot a fleeting glance at the lifeless Honor. It gave the lingering impression of a warrior that had lost its soul, unable to fight even as battle raged all around them.

There were times she could had sworn the machine was crying at being useless in such a critical time, but that was ridiculous of course. Machines couldn't cry.

That's when the klaxons appeared, bathing the hanger in red and noise as all heads jerked to see a new horror. A Blaze ZAKU had burst into the hanger, it's gaze looking around as it pulled out its assault rifle and opened fire on the damaged EH mobile suit, blowing it to pieces along with the support crew.

"Take cover!" K yelled, throwing herself behind a piece of debris as the ZAFT machine turned its weapon and fired off another shot further damaging the hanger.

That's when a large sword came flying out of nowhere as it pierced the cockpit of the ZAKU resulting in its destruction. K just watched in disbelief not wanting to believe where that sword could have come from. That buffoon wouldn't dare try and - !

That's when the Honor walked over and recovered its single Claymore blade from the wreckage.

Never mind... yes, he would.

"Lieutenant!" K shouted as the Honor reached down and picked up the rifle. "Get your ass out of there right now! It's in no shape to go out!" The Honor just turned around as it headed towards the exit as K followed along, a vein threatening to erupt from her forehead. "You barely have any weapons left! Your machine still hasn't been repaired and the reaction is still a hazard! _You won't last thirty seconds out there!" _

"Then I better make those thirty seconds count." came a response from the Gundam pilot at last as it got on the catapult.

K was ready to erupt on the moron as she walked to the wall communicator to alert Brimfield. Maybe he could talk some sense into this idiot! "Do you have a death wish! If you go out there..."

"... if I don't, we're dead anyway." Dalen replied.

K's hand halted for a moment.

"We're losing. If I stay, we're going to be blown to atoms from ZAFT. It's no different from being blown to atoms from the Honor. If I've got to go, then I'm taking as many down with me."

K slowly turned around as the Honor engaged its Mirage Colloid as it shot out of the hanger to join the battle. It was more than joining a losing fight.

He wasn't planning on coming back.

KIRA – **Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny** – KIRA

"Dalen Bertelsen, Honor, launching!"

The Gundam's engines ignited as he shot out of the hangar bay as he switched on its Mirage Colloid. His fingers flying over the controls he brought up a small monitor to watch the reactor's levels. A red screen came to life with the number eighty-seven percent appearing.

_87% _Dalen repeated mentally, his enhanced mind going through the calculations. At normal operations, he estimated it would take ten minutes before time was up. So K had been lying about the thirty seconds to discourage him.

The Honor appeared on the battlefield to see about eight mobile suits converging on a dying _Early Harvest _and the _Late Autumn _was in worse condition. The ZAFT ships were now moving in to directly attack the pirate vessels as well. He quickly looked up the IFF signals to get a look at his allies. There were about five EH mobile suits left and the Courage didn't appear anywhere. He hoped Henry was still alive out there. The Loyalty was off to the side engaged with a ZAFT mobile suit which he could only assume was Delahaye himself.

Time to get to work. He noticed that the radio was out and quickly flipped it off before anyone else could chew him out. "One last dance, Honor. Let's make it good."

There was a loud beeping sound that brought a smile to his face. It was almost like the Honor was agreeing with his statement.

Whatever happened here, he had accepted his role as a Gundam pilot as he put his borrowed rifle in the empty Claymore slot.

He pushed the Honor's systems as it flew off to the battle ahead hoping that by putting more power into the engines, he might be able to slow down the heating problem some. Flying at faster speeds than he normally did, he took a page out of Goldie's book and rammed into a ZAFT Gunner ZAKU as it was about to blast an EH Strike Dagger. The startled ZAFT mobile suit wasn't able to react as the Honor stole its Orthros cannon and shield before kicking the machine hard. It went flying backwards as it slammed into a floating piece of debris, exploding as a result.

"Watch your backs!" He shouted, turning on the radio for the remaining EH mobile suits to hear him as he swung the X2 around to see two approaching ZAFT ZAKU Warriors at him. He dashed to the side as it put considerable power into the Orthros and fired.

The recoil from the weapon lurched the Honor backwards as an red intense beam of destructive energy that completely pierced the first warrior and continued on to the second one, destroying both in seconds.

Dalen couldn't help but whistle at the sight. Maybe he should get one of these! Getting back into battle mode, he zipped past the grateful Strike Dagger as he zipped towards the other pirate mobile suits, firing several more blasts almost at random in an attempt to draw attention of the ZAFT mobile suits on to himself. A Blaze ZAKU turned its attention on the X2 as it fired with its Firebee guided missiles at him, which the Honor quickly took refugee behind a piece of ship debris.

The Honor flew upward as it fired another shot, but he missed the Blaze ZAKU entirely, but succeeded in blowing off the arm of another ZAKU warrior.

Should have known it wasn't so simple to shoot. Was it any wonder why Henry had spent so much time at the Firing Range?

**90%**

The Blaze ZAKU came dashing towards the Honor flanked by three other machines as they all constantly fired at the Honor, forcing the Gundam to back off from the ZAFT. In between dodging the ZAFT's blast and avoiding the debris, none of his shots were hitting the enemy machines.

"This is helping with the power issue, but if I can't hit the enemy, doesn't really matter." Dalen muttered under his breath, just barely dodging another blast. The four ZAFT machines targeted at once as they fired at the fleeing Honor as it took cover behind another piece of floating debris. The piece blow apart but the Honor was nowhere in sight.

The pilots immediately knew what the pirate scum had done as they all began firing in random directions. Seconds later, the Honor appeared as his Mirage Colloid shut down only getting half as far as he wanted but it would have to do. In his malfunctioning right hand was the Claymore blade, while in the left held the beam rifle, and the Orthros cannon mounted on his back.

Dalen pushed the Honor's thrusters to their max. The Gundam flew like a rocket towards the enemies now much closer to them as he fired off his beam rifle repeatedly. Two ZAKUs were destroyed in the volley while the other two broke off to the sides planning to trap the Honor in between. The former Faith agent jerked his machine to the left streaking towards the Gunner ZAKU as it fired again and again.

The Honor dodged right and left as it continued flying towards it until he managed to slash through the mobile suit right at the waist point. He flipped the Honor around just as the Gunner exploded as it landed against a floating piece of ship hull, used it as a brace and blasted off towards the Blaze ZAKU once again, which took out it's beam tomahawk as the Gundam closed in on it, swinging it's half Claymore blade once more. Due to it being only at half efficiency the ZAKU managed to dodge it with ease as it swung its ax down on the functioning left arm of the Honor.

By pure reflex Dalen squeezed the trigger button of the Honor's CIWS. Bullets rang out from the Honor's headpiece as it struck the ax itself. As a result the Blaze ZAKU simply hit the Honor's left arm as opposed to slicing it. Recovering before Dalen could the ZAFT mobile suit kicked it's thrusters into overdrive, ramming the Honor hard, making it lose both of its weapons from its hands.

The pirate went spinning out of control as the enemy took out it's rifle once more ready to shoot down the Gundam when Dalen had the Honor grabbed a random debris (which from the look of it was the hand unit of a mobile suit) as he hurled it right at the ZAKU that would had made a baseball pitcher proud.

The object hit the ZAKU right in the head, lodging it quite firmly. The Blaze ZAKU's aim went wild as Dale could practically see the pilot working frantically as half his monitors went out. Not wasting the chance, he jumped to the side and grabbed his Claymore and proceeded to stab the Blaze ZAKU through the cockpit.

**92%**

Dalen jerked the Honor backwards to reclaim its equipment as it put both that and the sword away and brought out its new Orthros cannon once more. Looking around he saw one of the _Laurasia_-class was closing in on the _Early Harvest _and pounding it hard.

With a flick at the controls, the Honor blasted off towards the enemy ship firing the beam cannon. If there was one good thing about attacking a large warship, it was that it was a _large _target. Very easy to hit even with poor marksmanship skills.

That's when he noticed his first two shots missing the ship completely.

Dalen had a sinking feeling of disbelief in his stomach. Somewhere out there, he was positive Henry was snickering in delight in an '_I-told-you-so'_ manner.

Gritting his teeth he jerked the Honor faster as he took more time in aiming for his next shot. This time, one of the _Laurasia's _937mm dual high-energy cannon was hit.

The two ships continued pounding each other with the utmost intensity as both ships continued to have portions blown off and destroyed though it was very apparent the _Early Harvest _was on the losing end. The Honor skimmed the ZAFT ship's port side as he fired on it over and over again all in the same area hoping that the damage would increase exceptionally if he hit the same area over and over.

That's when the _Early Harvest _sole remaining Lohengrin opened fire on the _Laurasia _right through the center. Dalen didn't have time to see the exact damage of the ship as he noticed a particular duel happening behind him. The Loyalty was fighting against a black Slash ZAKU Phantom and losing. _Badly_.

That had to be Delahaye. Goldie might be a bit of a loose cannon but he wasn't about to lose any more friends in this if he could help it! Placing both beam weapons on his back, he took out his half Claymore blade as he reactivated the Mirage Colloid, fully intending to cut down the traitor before he knew what hit him. A necessary action despite any misgivings he might have. If Goldie couldn't beat this guy, he sure as hell couldn't especially with the state the Honor was in.

That's when he saw Delahaye's machine was more than just a simple ZAKU Phantom as it had a number of modifications on it. The most notable feature was the DRAGOON system mounted on the ZAKU's back. It was currently setting up for a shot at the Loyalty with its beam rifle and both Hydra Gatling guns. If Dalen had the Honor strike like planned, Delahaye would probably be destroyed but he still would be able to fire off those shots and destroy the Loyalty... but if he rammed the mobile suit it would deter the beams but also miss his one golden opportunity.

There was no choice in the matter.

Milliseconds before Delahaye fired, the Honor appeared right at its side slamming hard into the mobile suit, and predictably throwing off its aim as the beams just missed the Loyalty. The Claymore did manage to cut through the beam rifle.

He flipped on his radio as the weapon exploded. "Goldie, clear out, I've got my own bone to pick with Delahaye!"

"You _bastard_! I so HAD him! Who told you to butt in!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Clear out and get plenty of distance." Noting Dalen's tone, Goldie started protesting anew with a touch more panic in his voice as Dalen shut the radio off.

The black ZAKU recovered as it pulled out its Tempest beam sword as it clashed with the Honor's Claymore, sparks flying from the beams.

"So I get three for three." Delahaye stated with glee when he took a closer look at the Honor. It only had one of its fabled Claymore blades in its left hand, with a ZAKU beam rifle and Orthros cannon mounted on its back with a ZAKU shield on its right arm. On its right shoulder was a long ugly slash mark as he could see the circuitry exposed. At the Honor's chest was a large black scorch mark. Delahaye nearly broke out laughing. It was _still _unrepaired from its last engagement and resorted to being a scavenger on the battlefield in order to fight! How the mighty had fallen!

[Presuming that Henry fought him first, then Goldie, then Dalen]

"You want to take me on, Bertelsen." Delahaye's voice erupted from the ZAKU Phantom as their blades clashed again and again. "Fine, here I am!"

**95%**

_Even if I don't get you, we're _both_ going down shortly. _Dalen thought as their blades clashed again. The Honor burst forward swinging its blade again but Delahaye blocked easily once again. With a flick of the ZAKU's hand, he diverted the blade down, and then shoved his own beam sword towards the Honor's cockpit.

Dalen gripped his controls hard as he rotated the Honor ninety degreesallowing his slower arm to intercept the sword. Delahaye then charged forward himself, sending the Honor spinning backwards.

The EH pirate recovered quickly enough as he swung his sword at the Black ZAFT machine but it ducked it slicing forward with its own blade, which Dalen countered by having the Honor take a back flip, narrowly missing the beam as it gave a right kick at the ZAKU Phantom's hand. It didn't lose its grip on its sword like Dalen hoped as it kept it's arm revolving a force circle then stabbed forward again slashing off the Honor's lower right leg.

The Honor leaped forward intending to slam it's shield into the enemy machine but Delahaye had both of his Hydras open fired on it, blowing the shield away, but Dalen continued on with a right punch directly on the ZAKU Phantom while at the same time firing it's CIWS once more to blow apart the right Hydra.

That's when Delahaye turned his left Hydra firing on the Honor's damaged chest portion. Fortunately due to the angle, the damage was light but it was still enough to blow the Honor away from Delahaye.

In a move that had to be one of mockery, Delahaye had his machine punch the Honor further back before rearing his sword again to cut the Honor in half but Dalen blocked. Delahaye added a spin himself to strike again so Dalen accelerated quickly to avoid the blow. He tried to stab downward on his enemy when the black ZAKU grabbed the Honor's left foot and threw him off balance, making his sword stab miss. Delahaye came in with a new lunge meant for the Honor's chest damage again but Dalen barely managed to move his right hand in front of the sword. The beam blade cut through the Honor's right hand destroying it but deflecting it away from the Honor's chest and instead lighting scratching the Honor's upper shoulder area.

Dalen brought his Claymore around with the Honor's good arm swinging widely at the ZAFT commander, all of which he blocked with his own blade, then he took out a beam saber in its free hand.

With two weapons now, Delahaye pressed his attack on the Honor with Dalen madly using his Claymore to block the strikes. Delahaye got a mad grin on his face as he continued swinging both blades faster, harder on that Claymore sword until it finally snapped in half from the sheer pressure.

Dalen gave a gasp of surprised at the sight of losing his second beloved sword. Not letting Delahaye capitalize on his new advantage he hurled the remains of the Claymore at the ZAKU which effortlessly batted it away.

This allowed Dalen to kick the broke portion at the ZAKU. It shattered against the mobile suit and while it didn't do any damage, it did allow Dalen to back off from the battle as he got a fair amount of distance as he drew out the Orthros beam cannon and firing off a shot. However Delahaye avoided his shot in time as the remaining three DRAGOONs [presumably I'm guessing at least three of the six have been destroyed previously, perhaps more) came zipping after the Honor.

The Coordinator realized his mistake almost at once. With the Orthros he was too slow to fire and destroy the cannons as they danced around him. He should have used the beam rifle, as it was much easier to fire on small, fast targets and Delahaye hammered in on his mistake.

So dodging both beam and debris as best he could, he settled on firing the Orthros at Delahaye himself who dodged easily, but that one moment allowed Dalen to kick a piece of debris at the nearest cannon. It went off course and slammed into a large debris piece, resulting in its destruction.

The remaining DRAGOON cannons came after him as Dalen abandoned the Orthros. One of the DRAGOONs shot through the beam cannon, thoroughly destroying it into several times as it exploded. The pirate quickly took out his beam rifle and fired off a round but missed.

That's when beams shot out towards Dalen from Delahaye's direction as he was now using his remaining Hydra to shoot from afar while his remaining DRAGOON cannons did their magic. Dashing to the side he fired off several shots from both rifle and CIWS thought his aim was always off thanks to Aleron Delahaye's shots from his position, making sure to stay a fair distance away from him. Delahaye was also making a point to shoot any large piece of debris the Honor could use as cover.

In a desperate action, he deliberately slowed the Honor allowing a hit that further damaged the Honor's right shoulder but allowed him to shoot down one of the two remaining DRAGOON cannons... which in turn let the last one destroy his rifle.

With his weapon gone, he tossed aside all thoughts and strategy as he pulled out one of his beam sabers. To his surprise the beam burst out faster, longer and more intense than before as it pierced the last remaining DRAGOON cannon destroying it.

Barely containing his surprise, he subconscious turned on the radio to ask Professor K about it, only to get an earful of shouts and threats nearly blowing out his eardrums consisting of calling him idiot/moron/dumbass in various and colorful terms.

"Yell at me later, what did you do to my beam sabers?" He interrupted

As though he flipped a switch, Professor K responded automatically. "_Since we didn't have the materials to fix your machine, I decided to be inventive and hook your sabers directly to the power source to give you more options. It's how I discovered the Honor's problem. Now get back here! There's still time before the Honor reaches critical and..."_

"Your concern is touching. Thanks." Dalen said cutting her off with a flick of the switch as his eyes glanced at the monitor in question.

Knowing his time was just about up, he slammed the beam saber against the other one he had to form a double sided one as he flicked his trump card.

_Flashback._

_Once the group had returned from the colony and reported their encounter with 'Hercules' to Brimfield, Dalen tracked down Professor K to ask her something._

"_Is there anything _else _I should know about the Honor?"_

_K had a look on her person that suggested he was diving into the deep end on ill advice. "There is one other feature." She consented as she told the pilot._

_It took about twelve seconds for the information to sink for the Lieutenant. "WHAT!" How could she not tell him about _that _earlier! "YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW _USEFUL _something like that would have been earlier! Especially against three ZAFT GUNDAMS AT ONCE!"_

_A loud painful slap echoed down the entire hanger bay._

"_That's exactly why, you idiot! You'd probably abuse the system and just make matters worse instead of better." She breathed out her nose to calm down as she explained to him the dos and don'ts of it as Dalen made such to give it his full attention, lest he be slapped again._

_End of flashback. _

**97%**

Now or never.

With that he activated both beams with furious intensity as he dashed off towards Delahaye black Slash ZAKU Phantom who prepared to fire again when he saw the Honor seemingly flaming in front of him with a trail of flames appearing behind the Honor as it moved faster than ever!

Dalen continued to dodge Delahaye's blasts as he streaked towards the man in a fiery blaze as he remembered the basis that K had told him about the Burning Mirage.

"_We installed this on the Gundam's as a last resort that is a truly double edged sword. It first requires the deactivation of you Variable Phase Shift Armor in exchange for essentially making the machine hyper-active by making the machine's reactions improve dramatically, weapon power and improving the speed by a factor of two or even threefold._

_The main problem was the time limit that one could have this active for, generally about five minutes. Due to the intensity the Burning Mirage takes on the Gundam, long use will result in the machine's OS completely crashing on you. It would take an entire reboot to get back online, something you're not going to have the luxury of in a heated battle since you'll just get blasted to space dust if you have to rewrite everything from scratch. Even for someone like Akira it would take twenty minutes, if not more. So use it for only two or three minutes TOPS."_

Two or three minutes would be perfect. Even if he did go the full five, it didn't matter anymore.

**98%**

The Honor flew down towards Delahaye who fired over and over again but thanks to the Burning Mirage he avoided all the blasts until he was right in front of the bastard again as he slashed downward with his double beam saber, which the black ZAKU avoided at the last second. Dalen then shoved his weapon backward to pierce the ZAKU's chest when the left Hydra Gatling blasted the handle of the double beam saber blowing it to pieces before it could touch the mobile suit.

But that was enough for Dalen as his machine jerked to the left as his CIWS blasted the Hydra to atoms as he got behind the Delahaye's Slash ZAKU Phantom and put it in a makeshift arm lock. Putting his thrusters on maximum he blasted away from the battle zone, taking Delahaye with him as his eyes watched the monitor's numbers slowly climb. Almost time. The _Early Harvest _and others would be out of the blast radius right when the critical moment arrived.

Delahaye seemed to realize exactly what Dalen was planning because his ZAKU began struggling like mad, its right arm in particular moving and whacking the Honor. "Hang in there," Dalen said, half to himself, half to his machine. They were only thirty more seconds away before...

That's when the ZAKU gave another powerful gesture with its right arm. The damage on the Honor's right shoulder grew worse as a result as it expanded further, tearing about the inner circuits and machinery even more as Delahaye delivered one final more thrust at the shoulder.

Combined with the damage from Mathilde and the earlier fighting with the EH traitor was too much as the shoulder's damage became complete as the Honor's right arm completely fell off. With only one arm left holding on, Delahaye was easily able to use his free arm to get out of the Honor's weakened grasp and bolted from the Honor like a bat out of hell.

**99%**

It was pointless to chase him. If he did, the others would get caught up in the explosion. As he mentally braced himself for it a new set of alarms went off in the Honor as he saw the screens all go blank one by one in a matter of seconds. Dalen couldn't believe his eyes, sure the he had another few minutes, as he watched the OS crash all around him, taking the power offline with it as the Honor's Burning Mirage, thrusters, everything all shut off. The momentum continued pushing the Honor further back until it collided with the hallowed remains of an Earth Alliance _Nelson-class_ cruiser.

_Seems that my little self explosion isn't meant to be. _Dalen thought as he felt the Honor slam down on the hull in a sitting like position. Whether he liked it or not, he was out of the battle fated to only watch now as he absentmindedly began working on the OS, knowing full well he wouldn't finish before someone finished him off.

Dalen gave a small smile as Terminal units flew over to recover his Honor. "Looks like we get to live to fight another day." He said out loud as he patted the side of the cockpit.

It was time for a few changes.

_**Honor vs. Destiny**_

Missiles exploded all around the Orb island of Onogoro like fireworks on the fourth of July. Mobile suits of ZAFT, Earth Alliance and Orb configurations fought one another in a massive brutal battle in the land, sea and sky. BABIs, ASHs, GOUFs swarmed against the defending Astrays, Murasames, Windams and even a few Rapiers.

The ZAFT forces were lead by the ever present _Minerva_ and countless _Vosgulov_-class submarine carriers. In the bay was several Orb _Aegis_-class and smaller _Kuromikami_-class vessels flanked by the _Archangel _and a single _Spengler_ ship belonging to the Earth Alliance.

Prior the ZAFT forces had landed on the beach head and easily making their way into the city. The Orb defense forces had been in chaos and discourage making them seem like green amateurs rather than highly professional soldiers. It would have been laughable if it hadn't been so pitiful.

Then two things happened to change the tide of the battle. The first had been the _Archangel_ with its Gundams and many Murasames that had attacked the unprepared ZAFT flank, throwing their ranks into disorder of their own. At that moment, the Orb forces seem to get their heads together and formed a _real _counterattack and began shoving the invading army back to the sea while its civilian population at last began evacuating. Then to everyone's surprise, a single Earth Alliance ship appeared from out of nowhere throwing the ZAFT units all the way back to the shoreline and out of the city entirely.

The designation from the EA ship came as the 81st Autonomous Mobile Group.

The ZAFT forces would not be easily deterred. Once the initial shock from the unexpected forces and worn off, ZAFT struck back lead by the _Minerva_ and the launching of its fabled Gundams. The result was a bloody stalemate on the beach head with the ZAFT determined to get back into the island interior and the Orb defense forces equally determined to push them into the sea. Something was needed to give…

Then that something happened. Six landing craft dropped right into the middle of the city on the orders of Lacus Clyne. Emerging from three of them were DOM Trooper Mobile Suits. The purple machines slammed into the ZAFT's rank hard sending many machines flying. From the other three came more Gundams.

The EHG-X1 Courage. The EHG-X2 Honor. The EHG-X3 Loyalty.

Immediately the three pirate Gundams sprang into action, surprising all sides completely. Even more from the _Archangel_, Phantom Pain or even the three DOM Troopers. Everyone was wondering where these three Gundams came from… and whose side they were on.

The trio of Gundams struck in unison at the warring machines. The Courage blasted three BABIs out of the sky at once. The Honor entered the beach fray, slicing an enemy machine completely in half with its giant sword. The Loyalty took off at berserk speed in the air lines blasting down mobile suits as easily as swatting flies as it made a beeline for the nearest ZAFT submarine.

The Honor stabbed another machine from the chest, content to stay back and help the land forces while the Loyalty and Courage took on the brunt of the attackers. Dalen caught a ZnO about to blast an unsuspecting Orb Astray. Without hesitation, he hurled his combined Claymore right at the thing, cutting right through its engines completely, blowing it into pieces.

Accelerating the Honor he blasted towards the surprised Orb unit as he kicked a descending GOOF out of the way, recovered his fallen blade, and then cut it in half. He gave a brief wave to the confused Orb pilot then zipped off to the next opponent.

That's when the ZAFT Gundams broke off their original attack into several directions, clashing into the _Archangel_ and _Early Harvest_ Gundams, while one came directly at the machines on the land.

The Destiny.

The ZAFT mobile suit began firing its beam cannon into the Orb defenders taking out two Astrays, a Murasame and even a Rapier.

Immediately ZAFT struck. Ten GOOhNs erupted from the sea firing a large spray of missiles decimating many of the defenders. Several airborne units swooped down like hawks converging on the hole in the Orb lines.

"Close that hole!" Dalen shouted over the radio to the Orb forces as he shot into the air. "I'll take care of this guy!"

The Honor took off towards the Destiny as it continued firing its weapon again and again, the shots dangerously close. It took everything Dalen had to dodge the shots. The pilot had gotten better than he was at Mathilde. The Destiny fired off another round, which the former FAITH member blocked with his Claymore. He quickly separated the blade into its two smaller pieces as slashed at the Destiny which dodge the Honor's strikes with ease.

Okay… this pilot had gotten a _lot _better than the last time.

Dalen struck again but the Destiny flew higher in the sky as a result and aimed its beam cannon again firing a shot. He moved to block shot when the Destiny threw a beam boomerang at him.

Having no choice, the Coordinator put the Honor in reverse to avoid the attacks. Dalen saw the shot carry on and in flash of horror it hit a portion of a city, decimating a portion of a city block.

"HEY!" Dalen shouted, images of Panama flashed through his mind as he recombined his sword and attempted to get back at the mobile suit, only for it to start firing randomly. As a result Dalen was hard pressed to keep avoiding the shots and many continued hitting portions of the city, many sections sprouting flames.

Grinding his teeth in anger, he flew like a rocket towards the thing using his shield mounted on his right arm to deflect any close beams as he flipped through the radio frequencies. "Whoever you are, stop shooting so recklessly! Your fight is with me!"

"Who are you to tell me…?" The voice of the pilot retorted angrily before coming to an abrupt stop. "I know that voice…"

A second later communication was established as the pilot of the Destiny appeared on the screen, his helmet off. A young man's face with black hair and deep red eyes. "Justin Johnson!"

Dalen felt himself slapped and doused in ice cold water. He knew that face. "Shinn! Shinn Asuka!"

Both pilots momentarily forgot everything around them. Including piloting their respective mobiles suits as the Honor slammed into Destiny at full force. Both pilots rocked in their respective mobile suits as their machines shook from the impact and fell towards the warring earth blow.

Both quickly recovered their machines and hovered in the air like two warriors of legend. Dalen was just amazed. The pilot of the Destiny was Shinn? Sure he had heard about the Destiny but pirates got very little information on the war and he never heard who the pilot was. He also wondered how the hell Shinn recognized his voice. The helmet's voice filter should have… he quickly checked it and saw that the device was dead. What a time for technology to fail on him…

For a few moments the two Coordinators couldn't help but stare at each other.

"_**ASSHOLE!**_"

For a moment the entire battlefield froze from the utter scream of pure hatred. Coordinator. Natural. Soldier and Civilian. Orb and Invader. Enemies and allies all stopped for one moment as they all seemed to know just who screamed such fury.

A second later, Shinn slammed the butt of his beam cannon at the Honor and the Claymore went flying out of the EH Gundam's grasp. "_**YOU LYING BASTARD!**_"

"Shinn! Wait!" Dalen pleaded as Shinn attempted to fire his beam cannon at point blank range so Dalen had the Honor clasp its hands and double back-knuckle the weapon out of the Destiny's hand. "Calm down kid!"

"Calm down?" Shinn repeated as the anger intensified three fold as the Destiny drew its anti-ship sword. "_**CALM DOWN! I'LL CUT YOU IN HALF!**_"

As promised Shinn had the Destiny strike wildly with its sword, no form or thought to it at all. "Shinn! Stop!" Dalen pleaded again before taking the Honor in a dive towards the ground. The Destiny flared its elegant wings as it took off after him. The entire battlefield just watched as the two Gundams flew like maniacs in the sky. High. Low. Straight. Low. Up. Down. Right. Right. Left. "SHINN! KNOCK IT OFF!"

"_**SHUT UP! YOU ARE DEAD! **_**DEAD!**" The Destiny charged again with another wild strike. This time, Dalen whipped out both beam sabers and clashed with the monstrous blade, but the force sent the Honor sprawling through the air. _What I wouldn't give for my Claymore back. _He started to call again but Shinn was already on top of him, swinging the giant sword once again.

The beams came in contact again in a furious flash of sparks and energy until the beams overloaded completely exploding in the Honor's hands as the sword slammed into the Honor's chest. The only reason the Honor's VPS armor held was because more than half of the Destiny's force had been absorbed by the beam sabers.

The former FAITH agent gave out a scream as he plummeted and crashed into the city, the road turning into a huge crater as a result. Dalen shook the pain off just as he saw Shinn sweeping down on him. Screaming like a baby, Dalen quickly activated the Honor's thruster and zipped away just as the sword stabbed into the ground just missing by meters.

"Shinn. I didn't lie intentionally!" Dalen shouted.

The Destiny's response was to draw its beam rifle and firing madly. "_**LIAR!**_"

Dalen would have dodged but he was now very much aware he was in a city now so he blocked with his shield. "Shinn! Not here! This was your homeland!"

Another feral scream erupted from the young man as Dalen gulped. _Wrong thing to say idiot… _The Destiny leapt recklessly on the Honor. _So fast! _Shinn swung his sword wildly, clashing with the Honor's shield over and over again. "_**YOU LYING BASTARD! JUST DIE!"**_

Dalen was hissing through his mouth. His shield couldn't take any more of this. But it was also an opening. With only one hand, even a Gundam couldn't hold a massive sword very well. If he could knock it out of Shinn's hand…

With that Shinn swung again and Dalen intercepted with the Honor's shielding slamming it as hard as he could into the sword, stopping it as his shield split in two.

And the second he did, the Destiny brought its beam rifle up at his exposed right shoulder now to blow it clear off. Dalen instantly realized his mistake; that he had fallen for Shinn's seemingly 'reckless' attack. Shinn was about to squeeze the trigger when the Honor quickly kicked upward, the motion tilting the Honor backwards just enough to avoid the blast.

The pirate saw that Shinn couldn't care less if civilians were hit from the fighting so he had to get out of the city as fast as humanly possible! The Honor turned around and took off with the Destiny hot on his trial. He slammed a foot on the ground and tried to get past the ZAFT Gundam, but Shinn blocked easily attacking with both his sword and beam rifle.

Laser shots missed the Honor hitting builds, cars, even scattered trees as explosions ripped across the city like blooming flowers. The Honor flew into the air again desperately trying to get out of the city but the Destiny simply would not let him pass! Dalen found that he had to retreat deeper and deeper into the city to just avoid Shinn's crazy assault and constant chanting of "_**YOU LYING BASTARD!"**_

The Honor flew furiously across the building tops trying to get away. Back and forth it went with the Honor running and dodging and the Destiny blasting and yelling. Orb citizens scattered like roaches in the light to get away from the mad Gundam pilots.

The Destiny caught up with the Honor once again, forcing Honor down on the streets as the chase continued through the city straits, with the roads and buildings resembling Swiss cheese. Then the Honor took a quick right and the Destiny followed… only to see that the Honor had disappeared completely!

Shinn brought the Destiny to a complete stop. "_**YOU LYING BASTARD! COME OUT COWARD! I'LL SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE!" **_

No response. As Shinn continued to look for his prey and that's when the Honor deactivated its Mirage Colloid. Before Shinn could react, the Honor struck delivering a left jab to the Destiny's left hand, knocking the sword out of its hand on to the ground. Dalen wasted no time in hitting the Destiny with its right hand in the head.

Shinn felt his face go hot in anger. The lying bastard _dared_ to mock him with that stupid boxing of his! He wouldn't have it! He aimed his rifle again but a quick kick form the Honor sent it flying out of the Destiny's hand.

"You should have paid more attention to my lessons Shinn!" Dalen roared as he had the Honor punch the Destiny over and over again. The Destiny's engine flared as the Destiny tried to get altitude but the Honor grabbed its foot. "Oh no, you don't!" Dalen yelled as he pushed the Honor's system to the max and even into the red zones as the Honor threw the Destiny on to the ground in a judo throw like maneuver. A second later, the Honor's foot slammed right on the Destiny's cockpit, pining the machine to the ground.

"Now calm down and listen!" The older coordinator shouted, the order firm in his voice.

(**Fiction Reader98's Note**)

Well that's what I got so far. Have several different endings in mind to wrap it up.

Again, I did this mostly just for fun since I've had these ideas in my head for awhile now: Shinn relentlessly chasing Dalen, screaming at the top of his lungs, causing needless damage to Orb as a result, which given his history I think is a rather interesting development for him. Heartless, but interesting.

I also just made up my own setting, not sure what you planned using ideas I had suggested to you: Phantom Pain joining the Orb defenses – as part of the Earth Alliance, it would make sense for some EA forces to join them, that was the whole point in allying – playing on Akira saving the commander's life earlier as well as the _Early Harvest_ hooking up with the Junk Guild in orbit along with Lacus, and launching the three EH Gundams with the DOM Troopers to assist Orb. I can see Dalen doing it to try and atone; Goldie to have his fun and Henry… not sure but probably shouldn't be too hard for him to as well.

(**Tellemicus' Note**)

For any inconsistencies you might've found in **Fiction Reader98**'s chapter scenes, please understand that he wrote these with only _partial_ knowledge of what I was aiming to do in the storyline. So don't hold it against him and please don't complain about it, okay?

Until next time…


End file.
